The Philosophical Society is a community of enthusiastic
amateur philosophers. Although it includes amongst its
members academics and professionals from
various fields of activity, as well as people who do
hold academic qualifications in philosophy, the Society
is not an academic research organisation.
Its purpose is to advise and encourage anyone who
has an interest in philosophy, and to help students
who attend classes in philosophy organised by OUDCE
(Oxford
University Department for Continuing Education).
The Society was founded in 1973 by
Dr Tony Chadwick, Staff Tutor in Philosophy at the Oxford
University Department for External Studies, the predecessor
of OUDCE. It currently has 347 members,
a number of them from outside the UK, and is based at
Rewley House, Oxford.
The running of the Society is in the hands of a
committee (elected annually by
members at a General Meeting) which determines policy and
advises the President. The current President is
Marianne Talbot
who has been Director of Studies in Philosophy at OUDCE since
2001. (Check out Marianne's two podcast, which are very popular
on iTunesU:
"A Romp Through the History of Philosophy", and
"The Nature of Arguments".)
Please do take a look at the many
activities we engage in.
Recent Announcements
Last updated: 21 February 2019.
Student Prize Michaelnas term winners have been announced
Please see the Student Prize page
for details.
The Society's GDPR policy is now available on-line
Please click here to see our
General Data Protection Regulation policy.
The 2018 issue of the Review now available as a download
Members can access it via the Review
Archive page.