Our Year 13 students joined about 600 other A level students to hear lectures from academics on topics linked with their A level. The speakers were: Dr Andrew Pincent, Professor Keith Ward, Julie Arliss and Professor Daphne Hampson.
Student reflection from Clara (Year 13) below:
‘Last week the Upper Sixth group for Religious Studies was given the opportunity to attend a prestigious conference in central London. Talks were given by Dr Andrew Pinsent, who is part of the faculty of theology and religion at Oxford. Philosopher Keith Ward and feminist theologian Daphne Hampson. Ward taught us all about whether it is rationally defensible to believe in God, however, his argument tended to lean toward whether there is rationality in believing in anything at all. For example, how much can we really trust our sensory experiences? there must be a world beyond our conscience that we simply cannot reach, this has certainly been expressed by philosophers such as Kant who thought the whole world was not real, but rather the appearance of an underlying reality. One of the few ways we can attempt to show this in our physical realm is within the dreams we hold, we can reach dreams and understand them, yet they are not available in the public sphere- they seem to be beyond our conscience so where does their existence really lie? The talk by Ward certainly opened up my mind, leading me to question my senses and perception of the world. ‘
Ms Anna Hewett ( Head of Religious Studies)
