President Michael D. Higgins marked World Philosophy Day 2017 with a function at Áras an Uachtaráin where the Irish Young Philosopher Awards were announced. The scheme has been set up along the lines of the BT Young Scientist Awards as a showcase for original thinking for primary and secondary students.

In his speech, the President criticised what he called a “deep anti-intellectualism” in the media and a lack of critical thinking in schools and society. “The challenges of the next decade simply cannot be met with the old orthodoxies. We need mind work.” The full report is here.

There was also this Editorial in The Irish Times titled “Philosophy: in defence of mind-work”: “… It is easy to turn every discussion into a ding-dong, and every news item into an occasion for blame. It’s much harder to take responsibility for one’s own thoughts and actions.”