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Philosothon

The Philosothon is in its sixth year at McKinnon. The first Victorian event was in 2009 and McKinnon philosophers in Years 7-12 have participated and enjoyed success ever since. Student philosophers engage in the collaborative philosophical dialogue using the Community of Inquiry based approached. The 2014 McKinnon team of philosophers included: Max Abrahms, Ellen Nichols, Izzy Blumberg, Lena Le, Chad Aizicowitz, Adam ElHorri and Liam Atchison.

In preparation for the event held at the City Cite in Melbourne on the evening of October 22, students met during lunch time and after school to discuss the following topics 1) The Good Life: "Are we entitled to live a good life?", 2) Science and Progress:  "Many people think that humanity has made much progress through developments made in science. Is there something or somewhere we should be heading towards? Can science take us there?" 3)Finding Yourself:" 'Know thyself' was once famously inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece. What do we mean by 'self'? Is it something we can know?", 4) Freedom of Speech: Is it wrong to say what you think?"

Students collaborated with each other by learning and practicing the skills necessary for philosophical inquiry. As a good English essay has specific requirements of structure and content, so does a good philosophical discussion. For example, criteria used by the Philosothon Judges from Monash and the University of Melbourne, included how well students learnt to build on the ideas of others by listening intently, offering counter-examples to extend perspectives, and asking questions to clarify and come to a better understanding. Naturally, the skills practiced in unpacking the topics for better understanding also included critical and higher order thinking, and creative and caring thinking. It is necessary to explain 'caring' thinking here, as it is caring for the process of inquiry, not solely exercising compassion for fellow inquirers.

Congratulations to our McKinnon philosophers for achieving 2nd place in the 2014 Philosothon and for their enthusiasm in recognizing the value of thinking philosophically outside of the classroom. Please visit www.vaps.vic.edu.au for view the program and  www.philosothon.org for more details on the state and national Philosothons.