Alarming news about the future of Heythrop College has
emerged. The loss of its undergraduate
philosophy and theology courses always means that years of work creating a
community of students and scholars exploring a subject together is sacrificed.
I first came into contact with Heythrop College as a sixth
form student. I attended a couple of
events where Heythrop’s Peter Vardy was speaking in his engaging and enlivening
way. He managed to inspire us with the power of philosophy to account for
familiar things in unfamiliar ways. I was keen to apply to study at Heythrop.
When I visited the college for an interview it was truly an inspiring place.
Students seemed utterly enthused by thought, by the immensity of the conceptual
aporias which they lived and
breathed. After my interview I was offered a place but decided that living in
London might be too expensive and hectic for me.
Dr. Vardy’s enthusiasm for working with sixth form students clearly
reflects the ethos of Heythrop. Another of its faculty, Dr. Michael Lacewing,
has embraced A-level Philosophy with great energy. His textbooks and
conferences for A-level students and teachers clearly support the existence of
the hugely valuable AQA A-level in Philosophy. The British Philosophical Association
has taken up the fight to save this unique philosophical community which
benefits us all.
