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By Alyssa Gao
Every April, announcements on WALive notify students that they can apply for Senior Philosophy Seminar. Such has been the case for decades: Senior Philosophy Seminar has existed since 1988. Yet, despite how established it may be, many students are left wondering what the Senior Philosophy Seminar even is. So, what is Philosophy Seminar? What happens during it?
According to Grace Putman ‘25 the seminars are low-key and enjoyable.
“We just sit in the second-floor Moss teacher’s lounge and talk about philosophy for three hours once a month,” Grace said. “It’s pretty great.”
But who facilitates Senior Philosophy Seminar? Some may know him as their physics or meteorology teacher, but Mr. Thomas Ehrensperger has been also involved with Philosophy Seminar since 1989. Working alongside him is Mr. Bryan Rutledge, who has been involved for five years. Philosophy Seminar has, more or less, kept its structure consistent over the years: for example, it has been seniors-only since the beginning. That decision isn’t all based on precedence and tradition, however. Mr. Ehrensperger explains that, while underclassmen can be plenty thoughtful and mature, seniors can be quite different.
“Just in terms of maturity and chance to have thought about things, seniors are in a different place,” Mr. Ehrensperger said. “…And I kind of like getting that slice of students who, you know, they’re almost done with high school, they hadn’t gone off to college yet… they sort of represent a cross section, maturity-wise. And so we limit it to seniors because everybody gets their chance to at least apply, you know?”
Contrary to what some people may believe, Philosophy Seminar is not a class, nor is it graded. The Seminar meets once a month, and begins at 6:15, lasting until around 8:15. For some, this raises some questions– school ends three hours prior, and many students don’t end up driving home and back. So, there’s always some time to kill, and there are multiple ways students can do that. Some go to Brakepad or Chick-fil-a before the meeting starts, and some may just study independently. Justin James ‘25 describes how he personally spends it.
“I normally, like, hang out with my friends,” Justin said. “At the start, I’m not gonna lie, I normally have to reread the chapter because I procrastinate and wait until right before to do it… If I’m ever moderating the meeting, then I have to, like, plan that out… But if not, then I just read the book, probably up until, like, 4:30-ish, and then get out, go out with some friends, to get food before the meeting starts… we get back at like six, which is about when it starts. That’s always fun.”
Moreover, there’s no homework involved besides summer reading. The summer reading is a textbook, or more accurately, a volume of foundational philosophy essays and works. Topics are varied and span multiple branches of philosophy, similar to an Intro to Philosophy college course. Mr. Ehrensperger gives a quick summary of what students will find in the textbook and what will therefore be discussed during Seminar.
“To just give you some idea, the basic topics are, okay, there’s the philosophy of religion, there’s knowledge, morality, free will and determinism, morality, political philosophy, and it really just kind of covers runs the gamut of all the big philosophical ideas, starting as far back as Plato and [going] all the way up to people who are still alive and younger than me,” Mr. Ehrensperger said.
Similarly, historically and currently, the intention of Philosophy Seminar is not to be talked at, but rather to engage in dialogue. It isn’t meant to be a lecture or a class. It’s entirely a discussion, free of any stress about catching up on notes. The students lead the conversation, and everyone is encouraged to participate. Zildjian Melton ‘25 clarifies this concept.
“I feel like ‘seminar’ is wrong…,” Zildjian said. “It’s more [of a] philosophy debate. You know, philosophy discussion. A seminar feels too ‘you’re going to sit here while I talk.’”
However, “debate” might not even be an apt enough word to describe the dynamic of Philosophy Seminar. Mr. Ehrensperger gives his insight on the predisposition that the seminar is debate-like.“You might think about debate,” Mr. Ehrensperger said. “It’s different from debate because nobody’s trying to win. In fact, sometimes when debaters have been members of it, they have to be cautioned not to try to win. You know, they can present their side and they can present it, you know, passionately if they want. But the idea is not to win or necessarily convince anyone else of anything. It’s to share ideas and stimulate fresh thoughts and just explore together.”
So, while “seminar” may sound like a lecture more than anything, both teachers put an emphasis on the discursive nature of it all. To do this, they allow a student to volunteer to be a moderator of each discussion, leading the conversation while not dominating it. This allows for the students to be mostly responsible for the flow of the discussion, with little need for direction from Mr. Rutledge and Mr. Ehrensperger.
“It’s democratic with a small d…,” Mr. Rutledge said. “We will pick a student to kind of lead us and pose the questions. Mr. Ehrensperger and I are always there, so we sort of fill in. And, you know, make sure everything keeps moving… Everyone has a voice. We try to make sure that every voice is heard.”
Despite how collaborative and low-stress Philosophy Seminar seems to be, students may have reservations about applying. It can seem intimidating, considering the view people may have of philosophy: that it’s too abstract, pretentious or hard-to-understand. Grace recalls her expectations of Seminar.
“Based off of who I saw at the interest meeting, I expected it to be pretty intellectual and pretty… over my head and… those expectations were met, especially because Mr. Ehrensperger is running it, but I’ve realized that I understand what they’re talking about,” Grace said.
Because of these expectations, students who are feeling nervous or intimidated might benefit by having a friend along to experience the Seminar with someone they’re familiar with. Even if they don’t start Philosophy Seminar with a bestie, though, it’s likely they’ll bond with everyone else in the group over time and forge friendships. Grace continues to cite her personal experience with her bonds at Seminar.
“I am good friends with a couple members there, and so we would sit and talk about what we were going to discuss before the meetings,” Grace said. “But now we’re all comfortable with each other, so we just walk in, we talk, we leave, we have a great time.”
Of course, Senior Philosophy Seminar doesn’t come without commitments. Mr. Ehrensperger gives a heads-up on how he’s seen students handle it throughout the years.
“You know, the one thing that is kind of a challenge is the time commitment,” Mr. Ehrensperger said. “We do do this in the evening. It’s only once every three or four weeks. So it’s not really a lot of time, or very often, it’s just that people get busy. And, there is the problem of people thinking they want to do it, but not actually being willing to be committed to it.”
As a student, Justin also offers his experience with balancing school and the Philosophy Seminar, something that is important to consider for future applicants.
“You definitely first need to make sure that you are willing to and that you have the time to make the commitment,” Justin said. “… it’s a complicated book, because you have works from the 1600s where, even then, they were the most, you know, prestigious, well-written scholars of their time. Make sure you figure out when you’re going to take the time to read this. You don’t have to read it all over the summer. They really want you to, but, you know, as long as you go into each meeting knowing what you need to know, you’ll be able to make it worth it for yourself and everyone around you.”