On the 25th of February, I started my very own society at Eltham College, to put it simply- philosophy society. To start it off, I picked the topic of morality, presenting many philosophers, real-life scenarios and situations, and questions for which I, and many teachers and students around me, could discuss together.
Whilst at Eltham College, I always felt fascinated by philosophy and all of its separate branches, such as ethics and epistemology. This was largely due to the fact I found myself finding more questions than answers in it, and never being able to reach a definite agreement or solution among my peers and those around me. It was a point for endless discussion, and so when I realised that there was no such society for this at school, I wanted to give people the opportunity to add their voice to these important discussions.
When I turned up last Friday to the room where I would present and discuss morality, I was in awe of how many people, particularly young people, who were interested in learning and discussing philosophy. Morality itself, is a topic I chose thinking that it would spark everyone's appetite, seeing as it is something that we look out for with every decision we make. "Is that moral? Is that right? What is being moral?" are all questions we might ask ourselves on a daily basis, whether it be before we make a decision, or after it.
In a modern age, with the world tending to focus on social media, and with rising technology, it is apparent that at times in our daily lives, we lose sight of the important things in life, whether it be justice, kindness, and especially morality. Therefore, when I saw the great numbers of students arriving to my talk, I was extremely pleased that they were interested in also asking and wondering about the bigger questions.
As the talk progressed, there were moments where I would explain areas of philosophy to my audience, then question them on certain situations. From the grey areas of self-defence, all the way to the complexities of "white lies". We began to think of the larger questions beyond simply whether an action is "moral or not". For example, should we have the right to decide what morality is? Is it inherent in nature or nurture? In other words, something found, or even destroyed- in our birth or our upbringing. Ultimately, we even began to question whether "morality" can be defined into simply right and wrong?
These were all ideas and questions which led me to thinking further and those in the room too; having asked one of the students what they thought of the talk, they said that it 'gave me questions in areas I had never considered or thought possible.' Even from a teacher's perspective (at the talk), it was noted as being 'eye-opening and interesting for everyone of all ages,' which was exactly my intention.
And so, to have made people from all backgrounds, from all ages, from all different areas of academia and personality, begin to think more deeply on the bigger questions in life, was a highly rewarding experience. To have also discussed it together, to have argued and disagreed with each other, and to have voiced our own opinions, is exactly what was needed at Eltham College. This is something which I certainly believe is necessary in every school, for every age group, because not only is it fun and exciting, but it is empowering and thought-provoking.
