Exchange for philosophers

Who are we?

The Swiss Philosophy Olympiad is an essay competition where thoughtful secondary school students encounter thought-provoking ideas and like-minded peers. To participate, you don’t need to have read thick tomes by Kant or Hegel. An interest in philosophical questions, a love of writing and critical thinking are enough. The authors of particularly good essays qualify for the national final or even for the International Philosophy Olympiad. This takes place in a different country every year.

Participation is 100% free of charge for students. The Philosophy Olympiad is made possible by the voluntary commitment of former participants, philosophy students and teachers. They evaluate essays, write exam questions, organise camps, teach philosophy beyond the curriculum and accompany young people to international competitions.

What is it all about?

The Austrian Philosophy Olympiad invites a Swiss guest delegation to its national competition in Salzburg – as part of the second German-speaking Philosophy Olympiad. The aim is to:

• Create more international encounters for young philosophers.
• Enable participants to take part in an essay competition in their own national language. (At the International Philosophy Olympiad, they write in English)
• Complement the major International Philosophy Olympiad with regional, sustainable counterparts.

Two high school students from Thun and Solothurn impressed the judges in the semi-finals of the Swiss Philosophy Olympiad with their essays written in German. Help us send them to Salzburg! There they can:

• Further hone their writing skills
• Learn more about philosophy
• Exchange ideas with around 30 young people from Austria and South Tyrol
• Get to know the city of Mozart
• Win awards for good essays

Last year, two Swiss participants took part in the first German-speaking Philosophy Olympiad. Help us to be there again!

Why do we need your support?

It is very important to us that our national and international programmes remain free of charge so that young people can participate regardless of their families’ financial circumstances. Our partners help us to ensure this. However, international events such as the German-speaking Philosophy Olympiad can quickly become quite expensive, as we need:

• Train tickets: Whenever possible, we travel by train. SBB and ÖBB take our participants Lina and Diego from Thun and Solothurn to Salzburg.
• Accommodation and meals on site: We want our participants to be able to interact as much as possible with young people from neighbouring countries. To make it easier for them to connect, we make a point of staying and eating at the education centre where the event takes place.

This is where you come in: with your donations, you are helping young philosophers to engage in dialogue with each other – on both sides of the Alps!