iPhilosophy Seminar Club: Reading, Discussing, and Debating Philosophy With People From 20 Countries

In September 2025, Cao Mingzhe began a philosophy reading and discussion series on Schoolhouse.world with a simple aim: to create the kind of philosophical conversation he wanted to participate in himself. Rather than approaching philosophy mainly through summaries and introductory explanations, the series would bring students directly to philosophical texts—and then give them a place to argue about what they had read.

Schoolhouse.world is a free peer-learning platform founded by Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, where students from around the world can teach and learn from one another in live online sessions. Cao’s series, “Reading, Discussing, and Debating Philosophy,” uses that international setting to bring together teenagers interested in philosophy, literature, argument, and critical thinking.

Each seminar combines reading with discussion. Participants are encouraged to read selected philosophical text beforehand. A session then begins with a short introduction to the work and its central arguments before moving into moderated Socratic discussion. Rather than simply explaining what a philosopher believed, the format asks students to examine the reasoning for themselves: What assumptions does an argument depend on? Does a counterexample defeat it? What would someone on the other side say?

The readings have ranged across contemporary and twentieth-century moral philosophy. Early sessions examined Judith Jarvis Thomson’s famous defense of abortion, Elizabeth Harman’s arguments concerning animals and vegetarianism, G. E. M. Anscombe’s criticism of President Truman, Thomas Scanlon’s work on intention and moral permissibility, and Michele Moody-Adams’s writing on culture and moral responsibility. As of September 2026, Cao is planning for new sessions that center on contemporary ethical debates and the many authors surrounding them instead of focusing on one sole author; Each of the new session materials being planned now includes multiple authors, each author defending a different side in a given debate.

What began as a small reading initiative has developed into an international discussion community. As of September 13, 2026, the series has held 13 substantive sessions and attracted 73 registered participants, with learners joining from roughly 20 countries. The diversity of its participants is particularly important to the format: philosophical arguments that may appear intuitive in one cultural or educational setting can encounter very different reactions when discussed across borders.

The series remains ongoing. Its purpose is not to work toward a predetermined curriculum or conclusion, but to provide a recurring space in which students can encounter demanding ideas, learn to read arguments carefully, and test their own views through conversation with others. As new readings and questions are introduced, each seminar adds another chapter to that continuing discussion.¹