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“The instructors made the program fun, welcoming, and exciting. Not only did they maintain a healthy learning environment with their positive attitudes, but they also included all sorts of games, activities, and insightful discussions. I would certainly retake this class.”
— Safa, Grade 11 (2024 Cohort)
“Thank you for offering the philosophy camp. In this day and age with AI, it’s so important that our kids can still learn how to think as human beings—as themselves.”
— Parent of Student (2025 Cohort)
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Week 1: July 7-11
Day 1: Political Power - What justifies the government in the first place? What parts of society should be democratic?
Day 2: Markets & Morality - How do markets work? What (if anything) justifies the market system? What is the point of regulating corporations? Are there some things that shouldn’t be for sale?
Day 3: Field Trip to the University of Toronto
Day 4: Health & Justice - What is intelligence? How might we test whether AI is truly intelligent? How is AI being used in society, and what are the social benefits and costs? Are cases of AI use ethical?
Day 5: Philosopher’s Conference - Students will have a chance to bring together their newly-developed critical thinking skills to construct and debate their own position on one of the topics we have discussed throughout the week. -
By the end of this program, students will be able to:
Identify the parts of an argument. Students will learn what an argument is, the parts of an argument, and most importantly, what makes a well-reasoned argument.
Reconstruct an argument from a text. Students will learn how to identify the premises and conclusion of an argument from many texts, and how to reconstruct the argument in its logical form.
Evaluate the strength of an argument. Building upon their argument reconstruction skills, students will learn to critically evaluate an argument by analyzing its logical structure and the truth of its premises.
Develop convincing objections and replies. Students will learn to clearly and concisely communicate why an argument fails or succeeds, based on their critical analysis. They will apply this to form well-reasoned opinions on philosophical issues.
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Click ‘Register Now’ above to fill out the registration form and enrol in the program. We accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Full payment is required at the time of registration.
Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to 20 students per session.
Financial Assistance
Financially underprivileged students are eligible to register for the program at reduced cost. If you would like to apply for financial assistance, please contact registration@philosophyforyouth.ca.
Confirmations
Confirmations will be sent by email shortly after we have received and processed your registration. We will let you know by email if there are any problems with processing your registration.
Transfers
Students may transfer to another session free-of-charge, provided the session they wish to transfer to is not fully enrolled. We permit transfers up to 5 business days before the start date of the session you wish to transfer out of.
Cancellations & Refunds
Cancellations for any session must be given by email to registration@philosophyforyouth.ca by July 2, 2026, for a refund of 80%.
In case of low enrollment for a given session, we reserve the right to cancel the session, and a full refund will be provided along with the option to transfer into another session.
We cannot issue refunds for days where a student is absent. However, we will provide the student with material to catch up on what they have missed. Days of absence cannot be made up.
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Class Size
Each session is limited to 20 students, with an instructor to student ratio of 10:1.
Daily Schedule
9:15am - 9:30am: Drop off and sign in
9:30am - 10:45am: First half of morning session (activities, discussions, debates, simultations)
10:45am - 11:00am: Break
11:00am - 12:00pm: Second half of morning session (lesson)
12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch
1:00pm - 2:00pm: First half of afternoon session (activities, discussions, debates, simultations)
2:00pm - 2:15pm: Break
2:15pm - 3:30pm: Second half of afternoon session (lesson)
3:30pm - 4:00pm: Afternoon games and activities
4:00pm: Sign out -
Program Content
Lessons and lectures
Learning activities (simulations, debates, discussions)
Program Materials
Philosophy For Youth folder
Philosophy For Youth pen
Name tag
Handouts and readings
Opportunity to make new connections and learn about university programs and admissions!
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09:30 - 10:00 Case Study: What are markets, and how do they work?
10:00 - 10:30 Activity - Trading Game: How might markets promote human welfare?
10:30 - 11:00 Logic: Daily logic lesson
11:00 - 11:30 Lesson and Discussion: Consequentialist arguments for markets
11:30 - 12:00 Activity - Corporatopia: Students participate in a market simulation game - negotiate business deals, produce market failures, and lobby the government to learn when, and how, markets fail.
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch Break
13:00 - 14:00 Activity - Corporatopia (Continued)
14:00 - 14:30 Lesson: Markets and other values; are there some things which shouldn’t be for sale?
14:30 - 16:00 Activity - Ethics Bowl: Construct, defend, and debate a position on the moral limits of markets!
Feedback from Previous Years
“The program was interesting and fun. The instructors were well-informed and invited you to consider all opinions whilst challenging your own. They promoted and achieved an inclusive environment where everyone was free to share their thoughts.”
“Philosophy can be an interesting topic; it’s extremely broad. But without the right teacher it’s very hard to grasp anything at all. That’s why I’m thankful to the teachers at Philosophy For Youth for providing me with the detail, knowledge, and answers to use not just in philosophy, but in every subject that stems from it.”
Meet The Team
Victor Chung
Program Director (Week 2)
Victor is a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and was formerly a Race, Ethics, Power Fellow at the Centre for Ethics.
Fallon Taylor-Kanary
Program Director (Week 1)
Fallon received her Honours Bachelor of Arts as a philosophy specialist from the University of Toronto and her Master’s degree in Social and Political Thought from York University.
Coye Zhou
Program Instructor
Coye studies at the University of Waterloo, where she is working towards an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. Her current research topics are in disability justice, social epistemology, and the ethics of care.
Michael DiIorio
Program Instructor
Michael is currently perusing an Honours Bachelor of Arts double major in philosophy and sociology at the University of Waterloo.
Matthew Mavrogiannis
Program Instructor
Matthew is currently wrapping up the third year of a four-year PhD program in philosophy at the University of Western Ontario.