Philosothon Uk

The aim of the Philosothon is to promote philosophical enquiry and rigour by bringing students from Years 9-13 together around stimulus material which allows the group to move beyond discussion towards critical inquiry. The model used for the event is the Community of Inquiry, where the idea is not at all to ‘score points’, but to enable the group to move towards awareness of underlying concepts that are inherent within the stimulus sent to schools and critical understanding of different positions and arguments that arise as a result of dialogue around the stimulus. Students are encouraged to ask questions of other students in the group which analyse the issue at stake, which probe deeper and which try to understand and clarify both their own viewpoints and arguments and those expressed within the group. No formal philosophical expertise or grounding is expected of students, and groups should be jargon-free zones; what the judges will be looking for is students’ ability to move the argument on through genuine awareness of different responses and the reasons behind them, and critical inquiry into the reasons put forward by group participants.