We have a great interest in philosophy at Sligo Sudbury School and were excited to have the opportunity to meet like-minded people at the Young Philosopher Awards. On the 15 may 2019, we went to UCD for the conference and presentation of the awards. We (myself and my friend) were not among the prize winners but it was a good experience and we had lots of fun meeting the president and reading other people’s projects. The president said in his speech that we don’t exist “just to be useful”, and that thinking critically is very important.
Philosophy is not knowing who the great philosophers were, or even having a great question. It’s about thinking critically and the quest for wisdom. Our question explored our perception of our lived experiences, asking “How can we be sure of anything?”, considering dreams, fake news, media hype, our own unreliable memories, and subjectivity. We read about Rene Descartes, who most famously declared “cogito, ergo sum”, and wondered how that fits in today’s world, when Artificial Intelligence can also “think”.
It was a lot of fun and we hope to go again next year.