Outstanding Talks for Philosophy Enrichment

Our programme of enrichment for Philosophy has really kicked off this year with some outstanding talks from our pupils.  A number of Upper Sixth pupils shared with us their research from their IRP projects; Jiwoo on the ethics of carnism, Julia on the relevance of Halakah to the modern day and Frances who gave us a comparative study of western and eastern philosophies.  The Lower Sixth Form have also impressed with discussions surrounding areas they have been inspired to do independent research on beyond the syllabus; Caius gave us a comprehensive introduction to nihilism and Elias prompted a fantastic discussion on the South African concept of Ubuntu, and the idea of a more collective ethic summarised by the phrase, “I am because we are.”   

We are really excited to welcome a guest speaker next week: 

Alessandra Fassio is the sister of an Old Cat, Alessandra is a keen philosopher, holding an MA (Hons) in Philosophy and an MSc in Mind, Language and Embodied Cognition from the University of Edinburgh. During her time at university, she researched the feasibility of robot rights as well as the changing concept of privacy in the era of mass surveillance. Her main interests lie in the intersection between technology, ethics and the law. A large part of her current role at the Data for Children Collaborative with UNICEF has been to design and deploy an ethical assessment to be used across the Collaborative’s project portfolio. She has also been working with the Scottish Government to develop an ethical assessment for data-driven projects relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Her goal is to continue to provide support and guidance about how to embed ethical decision-making about data and technology in a practical and accessible way.