Should some scientific research be censored?

Are there moral considerations in casting actors in certain roles?

Is civil disobedience ever morally justified?

These are just some of the question students tackle as part of the Philosothon competition.

The Philosothon is an annual state and national philosophy competition that sees schools compete in the spirit of democratic and deep philosophical inquiry. The winning school from each state competition goes on to compete in the Australasian Philosothon, scheduled to be held in Canberra this year.

Unlike the typical debate format, students at this competition engage in what are called ‘communities of inquiry’ in which ten students sit in a circle, tackle a question over the course of an hour and engage in critical, creative and collaborative thinking. Students are rewarded for offering novel thought experiments, drawing creative analogies, challenging others’ assumptions and employing many other techniques in the pursuit of the truth, whatever that may be.

Philosophy has drawn increasingly more interest and support here at Scotch with a Year 9 and 10 Philosophy elective now on offer and the Inter-house Philosothon for Middle and Junior School students taking place each year.