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17 November 2016: World Philosophy Day





World Philosophy Day is celebrated annually on the third Thursday of November – this year it’s 17 November 2016. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established World Philosophy Day in 2005 especially for young people. UNESCO announced that ‘philosophy is a discipline that encourages critical and independent thought and is capable of working towards a better understanding of the world and promoting tolerance and peace.’ It occurs a day after World Tolerance Day on 16 November.

By celebrating World Philosophy Day UNESCO underlines the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and each individual. UNESCO director-general, Irina Bokova, said, ‘Faced with the complexity of today’s world, philosophical reflection is above all a call to humanity, to take a step back and engage in reasoned dialogue, to build together the solutions to challenges that are beyond our control. This is the best way to educate enlightened citizens, equipped to fight stupidity and prejudice. The greater the difficulties encountered the greater the need for philosophy to make sense of questions of peace and sustainable development.’

On this day of collective exercise in free, reasoned and informed thinking on major challenges of our time, all of UNESCO’s partners, educational institutions and individuals are encouraged to organize activities, such as philosophical dialogues, debates, conferences, workshops, cultural events and presentations. Philosophical dialogue can take place anywhere at any time – primary and secondary schools, hospitals, prisons, cafes, evening classes, language classes, public libraries, theatres, cinemas, businesses, and research laboratories etc.

For example, UNESCO is organizing the 15th International Encounters on New Philosophical Practices conference in Paris, France, on 16-17 November 2016 and A Night of Philosophy in Paris on 18-19 November 2016.

The 15th International Encounters on New Philosophical Practices conference provides a forum for everyone who is interested in the practice of philosophy in all its forms, including the least traditional. There will be practical philosophy demonstrations with and for children, teenagers and adults, roundtable discussions, communication workshops, research workshops, a book fair, and a ‘cine philo’ led by Ollivier Pourriol. It finishes with a banquet at the Falstaff restaurant.






http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/most-programme/humanities-and-philosophy/philosophy-day-at-unesco/


MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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