Adelaide School of Practical Philosophy

Adelaide School of Practical Philosophy Contact us on 08 8431 4145

The Adelaide School of Philosophy is a not-for-profit organisation offering practical courses presenting the great teachings of the world in a way that is entirely relevant and meaningful today.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built aga...
09/09/2026

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” RUMI

Join the conversation about universal love starting 22nd September. Link in bio.

One voice that frequently echoes in our lecture is the great Renaissance Neoplatonist, Marsilio Ficino. He beautifully c...
06/09/2026

One voice that frequently echoes in our lecture is the great Renaissance Neoplatonist, Marsilio Ficino. He beautifully captured the ultimate blueprint for a conscious life:

"It is also the profession of the philosopher to act exactly as he speaks, to speak exactly as he thinks, but not to confuse the functions of mind and senses."

To Ficino, philosophy wasn't an academic exercise. It was a practice of complete alignment where our thoughts, words, and actions harmonise, and where the clarity of the mind is never clouded by the passing storms of the senses. It is this exact alignment of inner truth and outer action that we practice together every week.

What does aligning your thoughts, words, and actions look like to you today?

Let us know in the comments below!👇 Join the conversation.

New term is starting on 22nd September . Link in bio to join us at the Adelaide School of Practical Philosophy



Marsilius Ficinus; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance.

"The only true voyage of discovery, the only fountain of Eternal Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to posse...
04/09/2026

"The only true voyage of discovery, the only fountain of Eternal Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to behold the hundred universes that each of them beholds, that each of them is; and this we can contrive with an Elstir, with a Vinteuil; with men like these we do really fly from star to star."

Marcel Proust, volume 5, The Prisoner, originally published in French, in 1923, and first translated into English by C. K. Moncrief.

Introductory Course to Practical Philosophy Over ten weeks we sit with some of humanity's clearest thinkers, Socrates, P...
02/09/2026

Introductory Course to Practical Philosophy

Over ten weeks we sit with some of humanity's clearest thinkers, Socrates, Plato, Confucius, Buddha, Epicurus, Emerson, Vivekananda, and a modern voice carrying the same thread, Shantananda Saraswati.

Different centuries, different continents, all pointing toward one understanding: that beneath our apparent differences there's a shared ground underneath everything.

That's the philosophy of unity at the heart of Advaita Vedanta, and it runs through the whole course before coming into full focus in week nine, Unity in Diversity.

There's a particular kind of that shows up outdoors. Not silence exactly, birds are calling, wind is moving through le...
30/08/2026

There's a particular kind of that shows up outdoors. Not silence exactly, birds are calling, wind is moving through leaves, the small ongoing noise of a living world, but stillness of a different kind. The mind stops narrating for a moment and simply notices. A leaf turning. Light shifting on water. The weight of your own feet on the ground.

That's not an accident. Nature doesn't ask anything of you. It doesn't need managing or responding to or fixing, the way most of a day does. Without that constant pull for your attention, something in the mind finally has room to settle, and what's left, underneath all the usual noise, tends to look a lot like presence.

The old traditions understood this well before mindfulness became a word people used casually. Sitting quietly under a tree, walking without touching, watching the sky change, these were never seen as separate from contemplation. They were often the beginning of it.

Mindfulness - a quiet, 3min practice we teach in week one: simply letting the body relax, the mind settle, and the sense...
28/08/2026

Mindfulness - a quiet, 3min practice we teach in week one: simply letting the body relax, the mind settle, and the senses come alive for a few minutes. You are present and fully aware. It sounds small. Students say it changes the rest of their day.

Philosophy simply means the love of wisdom, from the Greek Philosopher =LOVE, and Sophia = WISDOM. Not the accumulation ...
26/08/2026

Philosophy simply means the love of wisdom, from the Greek Philosopher =LOVE, and Sophia = WISDOM. Not the accumulation of facts, not cleverness for its own sake, something closer to genuine affection for understanding, the same way you might love a person or a place. A person who loves wisdom keeps returning to it, curious rather than certain, willing to be wrong along the way.

Are you that type of person?

That's the spirit behind Wisdom Within, our ten week introduction to practical philosophy starting Tuesday 22nd September. Nobody arrives with the answers already sorted. People arrive with a genuine appetite to look closer, at themselves, at what matters, at how to actually live well rather than just get by. Drawing on both East and West, Advaita Vedanta and Platonism, the course gives that appetite a real go.

Wisdom, in the oldest sense of the word, was never meant to stay in a book. It was meant to be lived.

Details and enrolment in our bio or follow the link below: https://sopp.org.au/courses/wisdom-within-introductory-course-to-practical-philosophy/

Curious about life? So are we!22nd September 2026, step into The Wisdom Within, our Introductory Philosophy Course, and...
25/08/2026

Curious about life? So are we!

22nd September 2026, step into The Wisdom Within, our Introductory Philosophy Course, and discover how Practical Philosophy can bring clarity, simplicity, and depth to everyday living.

✨ Why Join?
No Experience Needed. Just bring curiosity and an open mind.
Practical Conversations. Tutor-led discussions that make timeless wisdom engaging and useful.

Support Your Wellbeing. Explore mindfulness to reduce stress, improve sleep, and uplift mood and focus.

Practical Philosophy isn't about memorising what ancient Philosophers believed. It's about testing their ideas against your own life this week, this day, this very moment, and seeing what holds up. That's the whole method, and it's why the course changes people rather than just informing them.

📅 Course begins: Tue, 22nd September 2026 | 6:30–8:45pm
🔗 Enrol today: Wisdom Within – Introductory Course
🌐 Learn more: Adelaide School of Practical Philosophy
🌸 Step into Spring and start your own journey toward inner clarity, freedom, and connection.

Link in BIO or below:
https://sopp.org.au/courses/wisdom-within-introductory-course-to-practical-philosophy/

Plato left us a line worth sitting with. The unexamined life is not worth living. It isn't a judgement so much as an inv...
23/08/2026

Plato left us a line worth sitting with. The unexamined life is not worth living.

It isn't a judgement so much as an invitation, to actually pay attention to a day while you're living it, to the moment you react without thinking, the point where patience runs thin, and what you genuinely enjoyed rather than just got through.

That kind of plain, honest attention is most of the work in practical philosophy and the core of the Introductory Course starting on Tuesday, 22nd September.

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School Of Practical Philosophy Adelaide 18 Alfred Street
Adelaide, SA
5067

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