10 week evening course in Stockport
Practical Philosophy
Discover the Wisdom Within
Philosophy aims to set you free. Free from pressures and worries, free to grow, free to be more yourself. Take your first steps to freedom with our 10 week course.
Local Course
Local face-to-face evening courses available in Stockport SK4 1TG.
Peace of Mind
Following all COVID-19 guidelines for your complete peace of mind.
Practical Wisdom
Courses in practical wisdom for everyday living. Meet with like minded individuals.
Offer only £30
Introductory offer – 10 week course only £30. Limited spaces.
This popular non-academic Stockport course draws on sources of wisdom from East and West, past and present.
Explore Life To The Full…
The aim of this Stockport course is to offer a practical means to discover fully who we are, understand how to relate to the world we live in and what gets in the way of being happy, peaceful and free.
It invites students to see life as a place to test the words of the wise through practical and mindful exercises.
10 weekly sessions
The ten weekly sessions explore central human questions through discussion, practical observation, conversation and reflection in good company.
Self-enquiry through practical philosophy
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.
You can also download a PDF of the Awareness Exercise
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.
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’.
How it works
A tutor presents material, and leads a discussion based on what arises. Being practical rather than academic, the emphasis is on personal knowledge. 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 experience.
Next Stockport Introductory Course
Start Dates & Times
- Tuesday evenings starting September 2022
- Thursday mornings starting Sept 2022
- Time: 7:15pm - 9:30pm (evenings)
- Time: 10:00am - 12:15 (mornings)
- Course runs for 10 consecutive weeks
- There will be a refreshment break
- Limited Spaces
- Introductory Offer only £30 (Normally £65)
- Full-time students (with a student card) are Free
Term Dates:
The autumn term starts in the week beginning 26th Sept 2022 and ends in the week beginning 5th Dec.
(Half-term 24th – 30th October)
Location
- Belmont House, Belmont Street, Heaton Norris, Stockport SK4 1TG
- All Covid-19 guidelines followed
How to Enrol
- Step 1 - Click 'Enrol' on the day you want to do the course.
- Step 2 - Pay the £30 fee to secure your place
- on the course on the next page
- Step 3 - Receive your receipt and course details by email.
Find Us on the Map
Frequently asked questions
The course is practical in the sense that it is designed to 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 07999 or 0161 480 8111.
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.
Yes, we have local venues in Chorley, Stockport and The Wirral where you can attend the course face-to-face. There are also 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 information visit: https://courses.schoolofphilosophy.org
What some of our students say...
“Absolutely loving the course!! …Really changing how I think about things and life in general.”
“...I am benefiting greatly from the content and the practical nature of it. Thank you, it is enriching my life.”
“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.”
"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 and challenges."
Introductory Practical Philosophy Course in Stockport
The introductory courses have limited spaces and can get fully booked up in advance, so to save disappointment it is advisable to reserve your place on the next course well in advance.
Enrol below
1. Enter your details below
2. Choose the day and time of the week you wish to attend.
3. Pay the £30 enrolment fee to secure your place on the next page.
Some of the themes included in the course:
- Relevance of philosophy to today’s world
- Meeting the challenges of life, with wisdom
- The importance of observation and stillness
- The spirit of enquiry
- Seeing things as they are, rather than as we imagine them to be
- Living in the present moment
- Employing reason in discussion and making decisions
- Different levels of awareness
- Acting with justice
- What changes our states of mind and emotions
- Questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is life about?
- What in essence, is human nature?
- The nature of beauty and reason
- States of attention and personal freedom
- and so much more...