The University Philosophical Society, commonly known as The Phil, is a student paper-reading and debating society in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. It is one of the two debating societies in the university. The Phil was founded in 1853 but hearkens back to the Dublin Philosophical Society founded in 1683 and so styles itself as both the oldest student society and the oldest paper-reading society in the world. The society meets every Thursday during term in the Graduates Memorial Building to discuss a paper, debate a motion or hear an address. The society also hosts numerous social events, weekly paper readings (which are available to read on the website), the occasional concert, internal competitions as well as providing debating workshops and developmental competitions for members and school children. It publishes The Philander as an annual Freshers' guide to the society. It also competes in intervarsity debates at both an international and national level.
Read more about University Philosophical Society: Society, Governance, Competitive Debating, Honorary Patrons, Controversies, Notable Former Presidents and Members
Famous quotes containing the words university and/or society:
“Priests are not men of the world; it is not intended that they should be; and a University training is the one best adapted to prevent their becoming so.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“One of the fundamental reasons why so many doctors become cynical and disillusioned is precisely because, when the abstract idealism has worn thin, they are uncertain about the value of the actual lives of the patients they are treating. This is not because they are callous or personally inhuman: it is because they live in and accept a society which is incapable of knowing what a human life is worth.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)