VCE Philosophy

Philosophy evening at University of Melbourne

Recently, some of our Year 11 Philosophy students had the opportunity to attend an event run by the Victorian Association for Philosophy in Schools at the University of Melbourne. Chloe Sykes, Adam Hamo, Banjo Layclark, Nick Moraitis, and Walt Wilson went to the University after school to meet other philosophically minded students from other schools and be guided in philosophical discussions by professional philosophers. The event started with a talk by Professor Margaret Cameron, the first ever female Professor of Philosopher at the University of Melbourne and current head of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies. She read out an inspiring letter to the group about the attributes young philosophers should have. Students from numerous schools – public and private – from across the state, were then put into small groups for philosophical discussions responding to various prompts. Prompts included the issue of abortion and what (if any) moral programming should go into self-driving cars to help them do the least amount of harm when crashing. 

After each small group discussion, students were asked to vote for the student that showed the best philosophical skills (such as respectful listening, insightful questioning etc). Northcote High’s very own Adam Hamo was voted the third most philosophical student in the entire event and as such was awarded a Readings gift voucher and the school was gifted a subscription to a Philosophy magazine. Well done Adam! All in all, the event was a great chance for students to meet other like-minded young people, hear from world class experts in the field, and do some philosophy.

Elliot Wall - Philosophy teacher