School of Philosophy North West
10 week introductory course in
Chorley, Stockport and the Wirral

Practical Philosophy
and Meditation

Courses in practical wisdom for everyday living.

Small Groups, Practical Exercises, Mantra-based Meditation,

Retreats, Volunteering Opportunities, Guided Practice

A Sat Nav for Life

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Chorley Course
Stockport Course
Wirral Course
Practical Philosophy + Meditation, Wirral

Wirral Introductory Practical Philosophy Course

Original price was: £65.00.Current price is: £30.00.

Practical Philosophy classes at Belmont House Stockport SK4 1TG

Stockport Introductory Practical Philosophy Course

Original price was: £65.00.Current price is: £30.00.

Brinscall Hall Chorley

Chorley Introductory Practical Philosophy Course

Original price was: £65.00.Current price is: £30.00.

Limited spaces

Most of the time in life we can't change our circumstances - the people, the situations, the events - but if we change our perspective then new possibilities start to appear.

It's not what we are looking at, but where we're looking from that determines what we see.

Different perspective, different world.

Practical Philosophy and Meditation shows how to take life in your stride.

No time like the present

The course is practical rather than academic and draws on sources of wisdom from East and West, past and present.

Local Courses

Local face-to-face evening courses available in Chorley, Wirral & Stockport.

Peace of Mind

A safe space with experienced & supportive tutors & others looking to philosophy to set them free.

Practical Wisdom

Courses in practical wisdom for everyday living. Meet with like-minded individuals.

Offer only £30

Introductory offer – 10 week course only £30 (Normally £65). Limited spaces. 

Explore Life To The Full…

The Chorley, Wirral and Stockport courses offer a practical means to discover fully who we are, understand how to relate to the world we live in and see what gets in the way of being happy, peaceful and free.

Students are invited to see life as a place to test the words of the wise through practical and mindful exercises including the traditional system of mantra-based meditation.

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The Journey

10 weekly sessions

The ten weekly sessions explore central human questions through discussion, practical observation, conversation and reflection in good company.

What's Covered in the 10-weeks

How it works

A tutor proposes philosophical ideas, and hosts a discussion based on what arises in the group. Being practical rather than academic, the emphasis is on personal knowledge and experience. Students are encouraged neither to accept nor reject the ideas put forward, but to test them in practice for themselves, in the light of their own direct experience.

Next Introductory Course

Choice of locations, dates and times in Chorley, Stockport and Wirral

Philosophy belmont house philosophy course stockport
Stockport Course
Practical Philosophy Course Brinscall Hall Chorley
Chorley Course
Quaker Meeting House Practical Philosophy Course Wirral
Wirral Course

Frequently asked questions

The course is practical in the sense that it takes philosophical ideas and shows how they can be of direct use in our everyday lives. The intention is to stimulate enquiry and through this expand the way we look at the world and ourselves.

Online or by calling 0800 803 0799.

If you register online, you will receive a confirmation email with your day of attendance. If you register by any means other than online, you will receive a receipt confirming your registration.

Click on to the Enrolment page, Select Date, Add-to-Cart and Checkout.

Yes, we have local venues in Chorley, Stockport & The Wirral where you can attend the course face-to-face. We also have other venues in other parts of the UK.

No, all you need is an open and enquiring mind. The course is intended for everyone, regardless of education, occupation, race, political or religious belief.

Yes, we offer the course as an online course via Zoom. For more details go here.

Practical Philosophy Course FAQs

What some of our students say...

“Absolutely loving the course!!"

“Absolutely loving the course!! …Really changing how I think about things and life in general.”

“I am benefiting greatly ..."

“I am benefiting greatly from the content and the practical nature of it. Thank you, it is enriching my life.”

"Lovely people with a strong sense of why learning is valuable at any stage in life."
"I started off with the Introduction to Practical Philosophy during the first lockdown and can honestly say it was a lifesaver."
"Have thoroughly enjoyed the introductory course and the daily awareness exercise practice. "
“I feel more relaxed...”

“The daily awareness exercises … have changed my thinking and I feel more relaxed about situations in the media and other aspects of my daily life.”

" has helped me..."

"The knowledge and experience that I have gained from the philosophy classes has helped me to discover more about myself and better prepare for dealing with life's daily surprises."

UK LOCATIONS

We have local face-to-face courses available across the UK.
Our introductory courses can be attended online or at the following locations: London, Guildford, Midlands (Birmingham), SE London (Croydon), North East (Brighouse, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Leeds, Loughborough, Nottingham, Saltaire, Sheffield, York), North West (Chorley, Preston, Stockport, Wirral), St Albans, Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh), Peterborough, Cambridge, Oxford, Sussex, Wessex, Berkshire, East Anglia, Kingston, Kent

Course Prospectus: A breakdown of the 10 week course

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Themes included in the course…

These opening sessions consider how philosophy can help us enjoy richer, less stressful lives.

What is practical philosophy?

‘What would a wise person do here?’

Philosophy means the love of wisdom. Our course is intended to show how philosophy can help us enjoy richer, less stressful and more useful lives. This opening two sessions consider these aims, and introduces simple exercises in mindfulness and the application of wisdom you can practise in daily life.

You can download or listen to the Awareness Exercise, introduced in week one here. To download, right-click, choose ‘Save link as…’ and save the MP3 wherever you want.

Who or what am I?

What is my potential?

Who am I, really? My body? My emotions? My strongly held beliefs? My soul? Possibly all of these? Possibly none?

Such questions have preoccupied philosophers down the ages. We look at practical ways to explore who we really are and how to tap our true potential.

What is our state of awareness?

Why does it fluctuate during the day?

Often the most notable quality of wise people is their alertness to the subtleties of a situation. They are awake, perceptive and curious.

We look at deeper levels of awareness, and consider how we may become more awake to ourselves, our surroundings, and the events we meet.

Living in the now, mindfulness.

What is the potential of the present moment?

We review our own experience of attention through a model featuring attention centred, captured, open and scattered, and how these each relate to the past, present and future.

We examine the extraordinary brightness and freedom naturally available in the present moment. A straightforward practice is introduced. 

Plato’s views on justice.

What does it mean to live justly?

According to Plato, justice and injustice do not start ‘out there’. They begin within us. For justice to prevail, Plato suggests that we must learn to avoid being ‘tyrannised’ by our passions and fears to the extent they overrule our reason.

We discuss the practicality of Plato’s ideas on justice in our daily lives.

The Vedic model of three fundamental energies.

Sometimes we seem not to have enough energy, or the wrong kind. A wise person can act consistently despite these varying conditions.

We consider how to recognise differing energies, how to gain and conserve them and how to use them wisely.

What is reason? How can it enrich our lives? We look at guidelines for Socratic dialogue and how to use them. Developing reason in decision-making and action are also discussed, with practical applications. Obstacles to reason are considered. Everyone has the faculty of reason and we can all use it and develop it. 

What is beauty?

Is there such a thing as absolute beauty?

Beauty has the capacity to open the heart and bring delight. In this session we discuss our direct experience of beauty in its different form: of the sensory world, of thought, of feelings, of the inner nature, and of conduct.

We consider Plato’s idea of there being ultimately one beauty – beauty absolute – ‘not knowing birth or death, growth or decay’. 

Looking for the common thread in life.

What is the effect of finding unity?

When we look around, we see enormous diversity in nature. The wise person looks for the unifying factor: that which allows all this apparent diversity to be seen as part of a single whole.

Seen in this way, life then has the best chance of being led freshly and openly. 

What is truth?

How does the desire for truth show itself?

Practical philosophy is about discovering the truth of things – not theoretically, but in our own experience.

In this final session we look back and ask ourselves how our search for truth has fared as the term has progressed. We discuss what has been discovered and how, in our own way, we may continue to develop it in our daily lives.