From the Principal

It's our philosophy

Philosophy has always held a special place at Preshil. It is our goal to build continually on this outstanding program across the whole school, Kindergarten to Year 12. From a child’s earliest plaintive howl of “That’s not fair!” to the most intricate ethical examination of social behaviour, we are presented with daily evidence that children are not only aware of philosophical concepts but are vitally interested in discussing them and finding their own identity through life’s big questions.

Having had to put the annual Preshil Philosophy Conference on hold last year we are very keen to let everyone know that it will return this year, bigger and better, on Sunday 21 July. Save the date!

Dr Lenny Robinson-McCarthy, who is on leave for this term, has the planning well under way. The location will be, once again, the State Library Victoria; a great venue and one that supports participants from all over the state. Lenny has titled the conference Future Thinking  and ‘essentially it will consider issues of self, identity and the good life in the 21st century and, in particular, the ways in which developments in technology will shape our thinking around these things’.

I know that many of our families attended the conference in the past so I want to encourage everyone to consider participation this year. Every student in the School is practising philosophy and having the opportunity to engage in philosophical debate at home is a brilliant form of 'homework'.  Even our 3 and 4 year old children are currently exploring the meaning of self, of individual difference and how to treat others.

Here’s an update on senior philosophy sent on to me by Caterina Pacitti, who is Lenny’s replacement for the term:

The Year 11 philosophers have made a great start to their journey into the world of Philosophy through embarking on their inquiry into what it means to be human. As a class we have been intrigued by the developments in Artificial Intelligence and the questions this raises on the definition of personhood. The students are working on developing the foundations of philosophical thinking by learning about argument and logic, so that they can better interrogate the philosophical texts and ideas that we will study.

The Year 12s have hit the ground running with their significant study of Ethics. They have continued their deep discussion of the foundations of morality which is complemented by their ongoing study of Nietzsche's "On the Genealogy of Morals" - no easy task for even the most experienced philosopher! They are beginning to work on their internal assessment and have selected rich stimuli for discussion. Together we've been honing our questioning skills so that they can ask better philosophical questions when looking at texts, artworks and films.

In Year 9 Individuals and Societies Chris Dite and Anthony Cavagna’s classes are delving into the ‘Mind/Body Problem’. What is my mind? Where is it? Is it simply my brain, or something more? Their unit culminates in a meeting with scientists on the cutting edge of AI technology, who will help us understand the philosophical implications of the rise of the algorithms.

In Year 10 Individuals and Societies, Caterina, together with John Collins, have also been engaging in philosophical inquiry relating to the values and ideas at the basis of our charter of human rights. They have explored enlightenment ideas about human nature and the ideal society and have considered the question of whether or not humanity has become more civilised over the course of history. This discussion of their moral progress was inspired by a reading they did from philosopher Peter Singer on the same question.

As Peter Singer is a Preshil alumnus and possibly the most widely known philosopher in the world today, our students have a strong sense of the relevance and the significance of philosophical inquiry in contemporary life.

How to think, how to apply logic, how to live, how to see through nonsense – and have the courage to recognise that the emperor really does not have any clothes; these are the fundamentals of philosophy and essential life skills for all our students.

Marilyn Smith

Principal

marilyn.smith@preshil.vic.edu.au