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Annual debate

Can Consciousness Be Explained? 

Watch the 2022 Debate as panellists including Philip Goff and Anil Seth tackle the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness.

 10 Mar 2023
Words and Worlds: 2022-3

How to Get About 

Philosophy has long aimed to understand the phenomenon of representation. David Sosa proposes that representation comes, ultimately, in varieties.

 28 Oct 2022
Think

God and Morality 

Richard Swinburne argues that the existence of God is not a precondition of there being moral truths, but his existence does impact on what moral truths there are.

 By Richard Swinburne
Masterclasses

Watch now: What Is the Good Life? 

In this video, Dr Angie Hobbs, Professor of the Public Understanding at the University of Sheffield, presents “What is the Good Life? Revisiting Aristotle’s Function Argument”.

 18 Jul 2022 · YouTube

News

Volunteering Opportunities 

Vacancy: Finance Director 

The Royal Institute of Philosophy is looking for a permanent, part-time Director of Finance.

The Nayef Al-Rodhan International Prize in Transdisciplinary Philosophy 

Resources for A-level students 

The Royal Institute of Philosophy's 15-Minute Masterclass series provides accessible explanations of topics in the A-level curriculum.

Introducing our new Managing Director 

The Royal Institute of Philosophy is pleased to announce it has appointed a new Managing Director, Melanie Nightingale.

Our new Academic Director 

The Royal Institute of Philosophy is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Edward Harcourt as its new Academic Director.

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Funding opportunities 

Looking for funding for your philosophy event? We offer packages of support, including funding and sponsorship to promote engagement with philosophical ideas.

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Our work in outreach 

We aim to break down barriers and promote philosophical thinking amongst traditionally underserved audiences. Discover our work with schools, prisons, young offender institutions and more.

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Free articles

Philosophy

We Are Not Human Beings 

In this article, Parfit explores the questions of personal identity and numerical identity - what we are and how we might continue to exist. 

By Derek Parfit
Philosophy

A Reasonable Frugality 

Our choices and actions could ensure the perpetual future of life… or, in contrast, through malign intent or through misadventure, misdirected technology could jeopardize life's potential, foreclosing its human and post-human future.

By David Wiggins
Think

God and Morality 

Richard Swinburne argues that the existence of God is not a precondition of there being moral truths, but that his existence does impact on what moral truths there are.

By Richard Swinburne
Think

Mathematics: Discovery or Invention? 

How is it possible for there to be an ontology of mathematical objects set apart from the familiar ontology of physical things and from the familiar ontology of mental things?

By Kit Fine
Think

It's Not Brains or Personality so It Must Be Looks: Why Women Give Up on Philosophy 

A discussion of the under-representation of women in academic philosophy, focusing on the perception both of the nature of women and of the nature of philosophy itself.

By Sally Latham
Philosophy

Infinitesimals, Nations, and Persons: In memoriam D.A.P. 11 December 1942 − 1 January 2017 

Ian Rumfitt compares three sorts of case in which philosophers have argued that we cannot assert the Law of Excluded Middle for statements of identity.

By Ian Rumfitt
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