This programme runs once each week in three different groups across Years 7 to 11. Any boy is welcome to attend who wants to engage intellectually. The sessions are usually led by different members of staff and sometimes by pupils.
In Years 10 and 11, the programme looks at consciousness, free will, evolution, Kant’s Conceptual Schemes, categorization, necessity and contingency, authority and legitimacy. ‘The Scholars’ Programme is a great way to start the week: it stimulates the brain into thoroughly thought-provoking discussion, and allows us the opportunity to think freely without having to worry about the confines of a syllabus or the necessity to prepare for an exam.’ Jonathan Wolstenholme, Year 11 The Gareth Evans Middle School Essay competition This is a new competition, named after one of the greatest intellects ever to have attended the College. Gareth Evans left in 1963 and went to University College, Oxford, where he achieved the highest ever mark in PPE final examinations. He went on to become a Lecturer in Philosophy at Oxford University but unfortunately died in his early 30s.
Does art have any boundaries? The difference between Duchamp’s urinal and the DC urinals. It ain’t about the money, money, money; with the help of Epicurius and Jessie J, how does happiness depend on wealth? BRICs and MINTs; why we might all be better learning Turkish and Yoruba rather than French and Latin. In addition to the titles above, Year 7 and 8 boys have considered: Marius the Giraffe, Zoos and Captivity; The needle and the oven: how time-saving devices have driven evolution; Code-breaking and linguistics; The Wolf of Wall Street: just who are ‘the rich’ in today’s world and why do they appear to receive the most help from our government? Catalan nationalism – what makes a country, a country? What happens when one part of a country wants its independence from everyone else? Could a packet of Haribo really ever reach £8.67? Inflation – what it is and how it might affect you. You cannot be held responsible for your actions – the best argument you will ever hear! Anyone for rat? The ethics of eating meat. Year 9 begins with an introduction to logic, then moves to political philosophy with an emphasis on the question, ‘Why should I do what I am told?’ Boys then look at some philosophy of science and epistemology.
The questions for this year were: 1. Should intellectuals tweet? 2. What are universities for? 3. Is vegetarianism the future?
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