The London School of Philosophy is an independent

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

college located in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It offers part-time non-degree courses on a wide range of topics within

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. It was founded in 2010 by lecturers from Birkbeck College. It is based within Conway Hall, in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

History

In 2009, the long-established School of Continuing Education at

Birkbeck, University of London , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

, which specialised in extra-mural studies, was abolished and its activities integrated into the main college. The following year, as part of this re-organisation, the number of part-time philosophy courses for adults was sharply reduced. Seven of Birkbeck's philosophy lecturers responded to the cancellation of their courses by meeting to establish a new college, the London School of Philosophy (LSP). The LSP's seven founders organised themselves on a cooperative basis and agreed a constitution in 2010. The first lectures took place in January 2011. A launch event was held on 6 September 2011.

Location

In 2011 the London School of Philosophy announced a collaborative agreement with Conway Hall to base all its teaching activities there. Conway Hall is a large

art-deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...

building on Red Lion Square in

, built in 1929. It is the venue for a wide range of concerts, lectures and other cultural events. The building also houses the Humanist Library, which includes a sizeable philosophy section.

Courses

Courses at the college cover topics such as ‘Philosophy and Theatre’, ‘Philosophy of Love’; ‘Existentialism’; and ‘Philosophy and Biology’ alongside others on ethics, aesthetics and the history of philosophy.

Summer Schools

In 2013 the London School of Philosophy for the first time entered a collaborative arrangement with Birkbeck's Department of Philosophy and with Conway Hall, to offer a Summer School on philosophy, which was held over several days at the beginning of July. The LSP's second annual Summer School, in 2014, was a collaboration with Heythrop College and Conway Hall. The speakers included Professor John Cottingham, Professor Keith Ward, Dr Anna Abram, Dr

Piers Benn Piers Benn (born 1962) is a British philosopher. His research interests include ethics, including medical ethics, philosophy of religion. and the philosophy of psychiatry. Work Benn grew up in Blackheath, South East London with parents June ...

, Dr Stephen Law and Dr Adam Stewart-Wallace (all from Heythrop), Dr Shahrar Ali, Dr Keith Barrett and Dr Anja Steinbauer (from London School of Philosophy) and special guest speakers Dr Roger Scruton, Emeritus Professor

Richard Norman Richard Norman may refer to: *Richard Norman (chemist), British chemist *Richard Norman (philosopher), British academic, philosopher and humanist *Richard Norman, founder of movie production company Norman Studios in the U.S. *Dick Norman (America ...

(Kent) and Professor

Ken Gemes Ken Gemes is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London. His primary interests are Nietzsche and philosophy of science. Education and career Gemes earned his PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 1990 with a dissertation in ...

(Birkbeck).

Student life

Bertrand Russell and Conway Hall - geograph

As the London School of Philosophy offers only part-time courses, student life is not centralised. The college does not offer

halls of residence A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

. At lunchtimes, LSP students often gather at the open-air Park Café in Red Lion Square Gardens.

References

External links

londonschoolofphilosophy.org
- The official London School of Philosophy website
www.conwayhall.org.uk
- The official Conway Hall website. {{coord, 51.519722, -0.118333, type:edu_source:placeopedia, display=title Educational institutions established in 2010 Education in the London Borough of Camden Education in London Philosophy departments 2010 in London 2010 establishments in England