Strathallan Department of Religious Studies

3rd Form philosophers found out about the metaphor of Plato's cave today. Tejas was surprised that Plato thought it took "bravery or courage" to become a philosopher. But I said I thought Plato was right - to be a philosopher means that you can't just go along with the crowd.

For female teachers of a certain age ... By Stir Up Sunday on 22 November we're far too frazzled to focus on baking the family Christmas cake. Instead I observe St Nigel (of Slater's) Day - a quiet afternoon at the end of half term:

Would more people support the death penalty if it had a utilitarian outcome?

"Complex texts confuse me - I'd rather read Bill Bryson and Malcolm Gladwell." Letter from this week's @spectator

GCSE Last Days of Jesus' Life Was telling 5th Form that Pontius Pilate is actually a Christian saint. Vinnie wanted to know what Pilate was the patron saint of. Turns out it's political discourse. 🙄

Our first ever 3rd Form Philosophy Lunch today. 6 agile young thinkers discussed why each of the following tweets included invalid arguments:

Only Connect last night - did you get the sequence at clue 2? (Smugly) I did! However I did not know that the hymn 'Lord of the Dance' by Sydney Carter was partly inspired by an image of Shiva as Nataraja. Every day's a school day!

John Maxwell, 1934 National Gallery of Scotland

Be careful not to lick your finger tip next time you're reading Calvin and Hobbes ...

If you're ironic enough to buy these Christmas tree decorations from John Lewis, at around £15 a pop, surely you're ironic enough to decorate your tree with the real items at a fraction of the cost? Pagan yuletide decorationing isn't what it once was.