The second of the four Inter-School Philosophy Clubs, took place on Monday 20th November, this time hosted by Wellington School. Co-founded by TS, this after-school club was designed for those Sixth Form students who are studying Philosophy and Religious Studies and for those who may benefit from an undergraduate level of philosophical, theological or ethical enquiry.
The club was very well attended by about 70 students from TS, King’s, Wellington, Queen’s and Huish. The guest lecturer was Roger Trigg, who is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick and a Senior Research Fellow at the Faculty of Theology at Oxford University. He was the Founding President of the British Society of Philosophy of Religion, he has been President of the European Society for Philosophy of Religion and he was the first President of the British Philosophical Association. He has lectured throughout the world and has written many books on philosophy, with particular regard to religion in public life, religious freedom, religious conflict, religion and human nature, the cognitive science of religion and the philosophical foundations of science.
His one hour lecture was entitled “Does Science Undermine Faith?” and it answered questions such as Does Science disprove God?, Are Science and Religion just different?, Could Science support Religion? and Does Science need Religion? The lecture was followed by 10 minutes of Q&As, supper where we were able to reflect upon the content of the lecture with each other and with Professor Trigg and a final 20 minute session of Q&As.
I think that everyone in attendance considered themselves very fortunate indeed to have been able to spend a few hours with someone of such world-wide renown and standing in his field. The lecture may have been philosophical in content and was therefore extremely useful for my studies, but philosophy challenges us to learn holistically and the lecture went far beyond the narrow confines of specific academic subjects and I found myself thinking about things in new ways and considering different perspectives. After the successes of Julian Baggini and Roger Trigg in the first two clubs, the guest lecturers in the final two clubs will have a lot to live up to.
This club is free and includes transport to and from the host schools. The dates and venues for the final two clubs are Monday 19th February at Queen’s College and Monday 19th March at TS. If you are interested in attending please contact Mrs Wreford, Head of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics or Mrs Burnett, Head of Academic Enrichment.
Edward Shattock Year 13 Scholar
