Community

the whole is greater than its parts

Inclusive, Democratic, Diverse

Many different people are doing philosophy in Switzerland, in many different senses of "doing" and of "philosophy" - some are teaching, some researching, some consuming, divulging, organising, some are reading, writing, discussing philosophy, some enjoy it and some a bit less... 

Whoever they are and whatever they do, these people do share something important and may well be interested in finding out with whom they have such an interest, fascination or obsession in common. 

Philosophy and philosophizing has intrinsic value (we believe) and is best done for its own sake. It does not need to be advertised, sold, popularised, made attractive - it's value is visible to everyone who dares to look and is only distorted by packaging and rebranding. Beautiful as it is in its nudity, however, our philosophical pursuit of truth should be discoverable: if it is to be appreciated for its own intrinsic worth, others must be able to see it, and know where to look.

This is why we offer this platform to everyone interested, to let others know about you and your interests.

Our Network Activities

To foster a lively community of philosophers in Switzerland, we have been able to think of the following activities - if you can think of others, let us know and help us put them into practice! 

  • Let us get to know each other, as members of our association (en / de / fr / it), at our events, as philosophy students (en / de / fr / it), high-school teachers of philosophy (en / de / fr / it), philosophy PhD students (en / de / fr / it) or simply Swiss philosophers, in- and outside of academia! 
  • Let us share our experiences with philosophy, in high-schools (de / fr / it), at universities (de / fr / it), during stays abroad (de / fr / it), while learning to teach philosophy (de / fr) and in our professional lives (de / en /fr / it)!
  • Let us use our philosophical message-board (in English, German, French and Italian), to find others for reading- and discussion-groups, excursions, private tutoring, conference visits and everything else that is better done together!
  • Let us share our work, be it stuff done within a university course (in English, German, French or Italian), drafts and presentations or anything else (in English, German, French or Italian)! 
  • Let us help each other, through mentoring (de / fr / it), sharing of teaching material (in German, French or Italian) and suggestions for introductory literature (in German, French or Italian)!

 We are (sometimes painfully) aware of the fact that all these efforts fall well short of what is necessary, that not everyone is interested in participating and that even the best intentions not always lead to action. That's why: if you have any other idea, are motivated to try something else or know about similar or concurrent activities, let us know. 

Find your Peers on the Portal

For specific groups of people, we offer specific pages:

What is it to learn philosophy?

What is it to study philosophy?

What is it to teach philosophy?

Share Your Experiences

How you discovered philosophy:

How / where / why did you study philosophy, how was it, what went right, what wrong, any advice to give or stories to tell?

Did you do a Lehrdiplom or a formation pédagogique? Tell us about it.

Did you go abroad, for an exchange, a foreign degree, some conference or workshop? Tell us about it!

Do you know do something else than philosophy, looking back to your studies, finding out what was good and what not-so-good about them?