On Thursday 11th November, the Sixth Form Speaker Programme was delighted to welcome FHS teacher of Philosophy and Politics, Mr Bishop, who spoke about ‘Progress, Hubris, and the end of history’.

Mr Bishop questioned what it means to make progress in the 21st century, and the deeply flawed ‘dominant conception’ of progress which centres around the abundance of material goods. Mr Bishop challenged Francis Fukuyama’s claim that ‘liberal democracy is the final form of human government’ and went on to discuss what our future could look like, and the role that the current climate crisis plays in this. Mr Bishop ended his thought-provoking talk by reciting Walt Whitman’s poem, ‘O Me! O Life!’, which powerfully encapsulated his ideas. While we may be dismayed with the current state of our world, the poem defiantly ends:

‘That you are here—that life exists and identity,
the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse’.

There is hope yet, and a better world to be won. A world less centered around the objects we own, a more fulfilling world in which we flourish merely in existing rather than always striving for something.

Carolina J
Lower Sixth