Workshops for Pupils

Here are some of the day-long or multi-class workshops we offer, from fun introductions to philosophy for mixed ability Year 5 to explorations of medical and scientific ethics for high-flying Year 13s preparing for tough university interviews.

Originally, all these workshops were developed for gifted children, but primary schools in particular use “Alien Adventures” for mixed ability classes. As well as presenting time-honoured philosophical questions in ways that make them fresh and exciting for youngsters, we use team challenges adapted from the outdoor education tradition to build trust and cooperation within the group and give brains a chance to recuperate between discussions.

When can we do philosophy again?

It’s the year 2500.

The only entertainment left on earth is the 507th series of Big Brother in 3D.

You and a small band of courageous philosophers set off to explore the galaxy in search of intelligent life and a new planet to call your own.

Use all your combined wisdom, cunning and creativity to convince man-eating aliens to let you go, pass though Intergalactic Passport Control and cope with the sticky problems of doing DIY in outer space.

But first, you’ll have to give your cowardly spaceship a good talking to…

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Warning! These Questions May Bite

It’s been said that school is about getting children to give other people’s answers to other people’s questions.

This day is all about creating juicy, philosophical questions of your own and then exploring them until your brains cry for mercy.

At the end of the day, release your favourite questions into the wild to prey on passers-by.

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Pananthropists versus Autophilogues

Is it better for a thin man in a lifeboat to give up his seat, or to throw a fat man overboard to make room for two?

Is letting someone fall down an open lift shaft any different to giving him a gentle shove?

Grapple with ethical questions such as these with the help or hindrance of philosophers, gods and sages down the ages.

Then design and name your own moral philosophy and devise a fiendish dilemma ready for a final showdown, before a final discussion on… goodness knows what, as you’ll be the ones creating and choosing the question.

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Is it right for the rich to pay for the poor?

The problem with deciding what would make for a fair society is that the answer can look very different if you are rich or poor.

To get your unbiased view, at the start of this course, you will be issued with a ticket for the lottery of life.

Then decide where you sit on the political map and see what solutions various philosophers and countries have offered to the problem of creating a fair society.

Next, move to 11 Downing Street to tackle the national budget, making tough choices on where the government gets and spends its billions and attempting to reduce the UK’s record deficit.

Only at the end of the day will you find out whether yours was a ticket to rags or riches, and whether you would be a winner or a loser by the changes you have chosen.

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How Much is Knowledge Worth?

After some quickfire philosophy to warm up the brain, the day begins in earnest with a look at a variety of experiments, past, present, future and fictional.

Which ones would the participants allow if they were the ethics committee of a university, and which would they forbid?

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