Summer Philosophy Academy

Disagreement with other people is a ubiquitous feature of our lives: we encounter disagreements in politics, in business, at school, and in our personal lives.  Our 2026 Summer Philosophy Academy, How to Disagree: Ethics and Political Philosophy, is a free course that introduces high school students to the methods and strategies that philosophers use to debate value questions in ethics and politics.  The course explores some classic and contemporary questions about morality, justice, and knowledge and teaches students the methods of argument reconstruction and charitable engagement that characterize philosophical inquiry.

Taught by members of the Philosophy Department and supported by the Civil Society Initiative at WashU, the course will feature guest lectures from WashU faculty, training in the Mindmup argument visualization platform, and debates and discussions about contemporary moral and political issues.  Because our theme is moral and political disagreement, we are seeking a cohort of students who represent a variety of viewpoints and backgrounds.

Enrollment for the course has closed for 2026, but we'll be back in 2027.