10 week courses in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Online

Practical Philosophy

Discover the wisdom within yourself

Discover Your Inner Philosopher

The School of Philosophy for those seeking answers to life’s big questions, we share knowledge and practical tools to help you to lead a satisfying, happy life. Classes are offered in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
All our courses starting in January 2024 are full. If you would like to be notified of our September 2024 courses please let us know by contacting us at [email protected]

Local Course

Local face-to-face courses available in Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Peace of Mind

Following all Health & Safety guidelines for your complete peace of mind.

Practical Wisdom

Courses in practical wisdom for everyday living. Meet with like minded individuals.

Offer from only £20

Introductory offer – 10 week in person course only £20.  (Normally £85). Limited spaces. 

This popular course is practical rather than academic and draws on sources of wisdom from East and West, past and present.

Explore Life To The Full…

The Edinburgh and Glasgow courses offer a practical means to discover fully who we are, understand how to relate to the world we live in and see what gets in the way of being happy, peaceful and free.

Students are invited to see life as a place to test the words of the wise through practical and mindful exercises.

10 weekly sessions

The ten weekly sessions explore central human questions through discussion, practical observation, conversation and reflection in good company.

Self-enquiry through practical philosophy

Themes included in the course:

click each title below for more details

These opening sessions consider how philosophy can help us enjoy richer, less stressful lives.

What is practical philosophy?

‘What would a wise person do here?’

Philosophy means the love of wisdom. Our course is intended to show how philosophy can help us enjoy richer, less stressful and more useful lives. This opening two sessions consider these aims, and introduces simple exercises in mindfulness and the application of wisdom you can practise in daily life.

You can download or listen to the Awareness Exercise, introduced in week one here. To download, right-click, choose ‘Save link as…’ and save the MP3 wherever you want.

You can also download a PDF of the Awareness Exercise

Who or what am I?

What is my potential?

Who am I, really? My body? My emotions? My strongly held beliefs? My soul? Possibly all of these? Possibly none?

Such questions have preoccupied philosophers down the ages. We look at practical ways to explore who we really are and how to tap our true potential.

 

What is our state of awareness? Why does it fluctuate during the day? Often the most notable quality of wise people is their alertness to the subtleties of a situation. They are awake, perceptive and curious. We look at deeper levels of awareness, and consider how we may become more awake to ourselves, our surroundings, and the events we meet.
Living in the now, mindfulness. What is the potential of the present moment? We review our own experience of attention through a model featuring attention centred, captured, open and scattered, and how these each relate to the past, present and future. We examine the extraordinary brightness and freedom naturally available in the present moment. A straightforward practice is introduced.    

Plato’s views on justice.

What does it mean to live justly?

According to Plato, justice and injustice do not start ‘out there’. They begin within us. For justice to prevail, Plato suggests that we must learn to avoid being ‘tyrannised’ by our passions and fears to the extent they overrule our reason.

We discuss the practicality of Plato’s ideas on justice in our daily lives.

The Vedic model of three fundamental energies.

Sometimes we seem not to have enough energy, or the wrong kind. A wise person can act consistently despite these varying conditions.

We consider how to recognise differing energies, how to gain and conserve them and how to use them wisely.

What is reason? How can it enrich our lives? We look at guidelines for Socratic dialogue and how to use them. Developing reason in decision-making and action are also discussed, with practical applications. Obstacles to reason are considered. Everyone has the faculty of reason and we can all use it and develop it. 

What is beauty?

Is there such a thing as absolute beauty?

Beauty has the capacity to open the heart and bring delight. In this session we discuss our direct experience of beauty in its different form: of the sensory world, of thought, of feelings, of the inner nature, and of conduct.

We consider Plato’s idea of there being ultimately one beauty – beauty absolute – ‘not knowing birth or death, growth or decay’.

 

 

Looking for the common thread in life. What is the effect of finding unity? When we look around, we see enormous diversity in nature. The wise person looks for the unifying factor: that which allows all this apparent diversity to be seen as part of a single whole. Seen in this way, life then has the best chance of being led freshly and openly.    
What is truth? How does the desire for truth show itself? Practical philosophy is about discovering the truth of things – not theoretically, but in our own experience. In this final session we look back and ask ourselves how our search for truth has fared as the term has progressed. We discuss what has been discovered and how, in our own way, we may continue to develop it in our daily lives.  

How it works

A tutor presents philosophical ideas, and leads a discussion based on what arises in the group. Being practical rather than academic, the emphasis is on personal knowledge and experience. Students are encouraged neither to accept nor reject the ideas put forward, but to test them in practice for themselves, in the light of their own experience.

Start Dates & Times - w/c 15th January 2024
These courses are now full. September 2024 dates to be confirmed shortly.

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Location

How to Enrol

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Edinburgh Course

Glasgow Course

Frequently asked questions

The course is practical in the sense that it takes philosophical ideas and shows how they can be of direct use in our everyday lives. The intention is to stimulate enquiry and through this expand the way we look at the world and ourselves.

Online or by emailing us at [email protected].

If you register online, you will receive a confirmation email with your day of attendance. If you register by any means other than online, you will receive a receipt confirming your registration.

Yes, we have a local venues in Glasgow and Edinburgh. There are also many other local venues in other parts of the UK where you can attend the course face-to-face.

No, all you need is an open and enquiring mind. The course is intended for everyone, regardless of education, occupation, race, political or religious belief.

Face-to-face meetings will be held safely following all the latest COVID-19 & Omicron guidelines for your complete peace of mind.

In the event that the Government impose new social distancing / travelling restrictions or a potential new lockdown we will respond to that promptly with everyone’s safety in mind.

If at any point in time new restrictions arise that point towards putting a hold on social gatherings, we will make sure you still have live access to this course by delivering it to you online via Zoom group meetings until any and all restrictions are lifted so that safe face-to-face meetings can reconvene.

First you need to enrol on a course. The in-person courses are available in Glasgow and Edinburgh and at many other local venues up and down the UK. A local map can be found on this page.

If you have any questions simply email us: [email protected]

Mindfulness course

What some of our students say...

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“Absolutely loving the course!!"

“Absolutely loving the course!! …Really changing how I think about things and life in general.”

philosophy course reviews
“...I am benefiting greatly ..."

“...I am benefiting greatly from the content and the practical nature of it. Thank you, it is enriching my life.”

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“I feel more relaxed...”

“The daily awareness exercises … have changed my thinking and I feel more relaxed about situations in the media and other aspects of my daily life.”

philosophy course reviews
"...helped me..."

"The knowledge and experience that I have gained from the philosophy classes has helped me to discover more about myself and better prepare for dealing with life's daily surprises and challenges."