Theology and Philosophy

At Haileybury, a Philosopher is ready for challenge and debate. They gave a growing understanding of their own beliefs in a universal context. A Haileybury philosopher is analytical rigorous, combining agility in criticism and logical reasoning. They are curious and ask questions to clarify and deepen understanding. They are independently motivated and keen to succeed.

Gillian Wearing once exhibited a photo with the following phrase written on a placard: “Everything is connected. The point is to know it and understand it.” We inhabit a global village, whose marketplace is the forum for a seemingly infinite number of truth claims. At its intersection stands the discipline of Theology and Philosophy and, within it, the possibilities for challenge and debate. A clearer understanding of one’s own beliefs in a universal context is an elemental objective, but so too is a fundamental engagement with what it means to be truly human. In our subject we will ask such questions as

Does life have inherent meaning?

How should we live?

Does God exist?

Is there life after death?

To what extent can we know what God is like?

Such study is analytical rigorous, combining agility in criticism and logical reasoning. It is a crucible for the wider studies of other disciplines – sociological, historical, linguistic, textual, epistemological, and literary-critical – thus proving its centrality as the ‘Queen of the Sciences’. In its fullest and broadest application, it is the only discipline that charts the development of centuries of thought, belief and practice, from east to west. So it becomes the means by which we understand our place in the world today – not as automatons without common history, but as individuals who know ourselves to be bound together by a common ‘searching for’ that is the basis of a whole life’s endeavour. This is far removed from a utopian ideal, but it may make of us better people as, in short, we ‘seek those things that are above’.

We offer theology and philosophy as a GCSE course, philosophy and ethics as an A level course, and philosophy as a International Baccalaureate (IB) subject.