Our Aims

The Northern Institute of Philosophy is strongly committed to communicating its research to the public and, through activities of public engagement and knowledge transfer, to make a positive contribution to society. We aim to involve broader audiences in the collaborative methodology of philosophical inquiry in order to allow the proven benefits of pursuing philosophical reflection to reach beyond academic circles.

These benefits include, but are not restricted to:

• the ability to think creatively and critically about complex matters
• the ability to understand, recognize and respect alternative reasonable viewpoints
• the willingness to subject one's own views to critical scrutiny and, where reason requires, to improve and refine them

We believe these skills to be useful to members of the community of all ages and professions, and that by engaging with audiences outside academia we will bring a better understanding of what Philosophy is, what its practitioners do, and why Philosophy is a valuable intellectual endeavour.

Our Activities

Our activities comprise five different streams:

• NIP Podcasts includes The Ten-Minute Puzzle, and The 2-Minute Puzzle---podcasts dedicated to explaining central puzzles in contemporary philosophy in a clear and accessible manner.
• Philosophers on Film is a series of interviews with professional philosophers aiming to give a public audience a sense of what it is like to be a philosopher today and how philosophers view their discipline.
• Our Café Philosophique programme aims to bring Philosophy to a wider audience via public engagements events.
• Our Social Partnerships include Community of Philosophical Inquiry partnerships with HM Prison Aberdeen and with Foyer Aberdeen, a charity dedicated to preventing and alleviating youth homelessness and unemployment in Aberdeen.
• Activities in our Philosophy in Schools stream include collaborations with primary and secondary schools in Aberdeenshire.
• We run Philosophy with Children courses for educators in primary and secondary schools wishing to enhance their classroom teaching with Philosophy.

If you would like any further information about these activities, please contact us.