Dr Peter Vardy gives talk to parents and students

News - Oct 11

Recently, Dr Peter Vardy, one of Britain’s best-known philosophers, visited Colyton Grammar School to give talks to both students and parents.  

Dr Vardy is internationally well known in the fields of philosophy, ethics and religious studies. He was Vice Principal of Heythrop College, University of London and has recently been awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Chichester. He has been the keynote speaker at conferences for HMC, IBO and UNHRC and he advises government, local authorities and academy chains on the teaching of Religious Studies.  

In two talks for parents, Dr Vardy focused on AI and the ethics of war. The lectures were well attended by both parents and students. The talk on AI was thought provoking, presenting the direction in which AI is going, including it being generative and possibly being able to develop consciousness. Whilst there were benefits outlined including how AI could help with care in care home and nurseries as well as its ability to perform heart transplants, the drawbacks were stark including the rights of humans to work (many jobs could be taken by AI), whether AI should have rights and whether AI could develop to such an extent that it could attack humans.  

The second lecture was on the ethics of war with a focus on the Russia/Ukraine conflict. The nature of warfare was discussed with one of the key issues being whether a just war can exist nowadays. This was particularly the case regarding the disproportionate number of civilian deaths due to modern warfare weaponry. Time was given for parents to ask questions which led to lively debate.  

Dr Vardy also took our Year 13s for a philosophy conference. His lectures were fast paced and interactive, keeping the students engaging with important issues, giving time to discuss with their peers. Dr Vardy made excellent use of short video clips which highlighted ethical issues that are raised in film and the media, explaining the relevancy of all the issues for all the issues for the modern world.  

The first lecture covered an introduction to ethics concentrating on Natural Moral Law alongside John Stuart Mill and his Utilitarian ethical theory. Mill focused on altruism – when you seek the happiness of others you will find your own happiness. Dr Vardy drew parallels between Mill and Natural Moral Law as both concentrate on the fact that there are ways of behaving which enable humans to flourish as well as ways of behaving which diminish us human beings. The second lecture then gave an overview of medical ethics looking at issues arising regarding abortion, euthanasia and gene editing (CRISPR).  

Following this, the students had a debate on whether sanctity of life was more important than quality of life. There were some excellent contributions and Dr Vardy gave a copy of his most recent books ‘Beyond the Cave’ and ‘The Philosopher’s Daughters’ for the best contributions. The ethics of war was covered again, and the final lecture was on Business Ethics with reference to sports washing, responsibility of companies and Adam Smith’s focus on altruism which related well to John Stuart Mill.  

We are very grateful for Dr Vardy for giving up his time to talk on such important topics. Both sessions were excellent, and we look forward to welcoming him back next year.