Sheffield celebration of philosophy taking place across city

Think Together Sheffield, a new partnership that aims to get people philosophising in Sheffield, is organising a week-long celebration of philosophical thinking, inspired by World Philosophy Day on Thursday November 18.

Events will include environmental philosophy and a creative writing workshop and all events are for people of all ages to try out informal philosophising.

Sheffield’s Philosophy in Pubs group, which combines provoking discussions with enjoying a pint in two meetings every month, is also involved and holding a session earlier in the week.

Self described ‘public philosopher’, Grace Lockrobin, said: “People might be tempted to think of philosophical conversations as a luxury at best and at worst, an irrelevance.

"But I’ve found philosophy to be essential to a better understanding of yourself, other people and the world we share.

“These are interesting and accessible conversations that are an antidote to unsatisfying small talk and the troubling polarisation we see in private and public discourse.

"Community philosophy is a way of thinking about what really matters to you and learning to see problems through the eyes of others.

The #PhiloFest will culminate on Saturday November 20 with a philosophical community enquiry at the National Fairground and Circus Archive (The University of Sheffield) which is open to all.

People are welcome to explore the displays from 2pm before participating in the enquiry from 2.30-4.30pm.

Questions to be asked include what exactly is meant by the thrill of the circus and the fun of the fair?

Organisers won’t have a big top but it will be a fun and lively discussion, drawing on circus and fairground traditions in different cultures and from different perspectives.

A member of a philosophy after school club linked to the celebration, Valentine, said: “I think P4C is brilliant and it may help with problems in life, and that you should try and maybe add P4C to your life a bit and think, more in-depth, about what somebody’s said if you don’t understand it.”