A look back at the "Philosophie d'ailleurs" distance learning course

23 May 2023

  • Continuing education

  • Training

A new feature of the 2022-2023 continuing education offering, the "Philosophies d'ailleurs" distance learning course had its high point on Friday April 7, 2023 with a day of lectures at Inalco's Maison de la Recherche. The Philosophies from Elsewhere day brought together several specialists in philosophical studies, including Inspector General of Philosophy Frank Burbage, philosopher Roger-Pol Droit and the teacher-researchers who had led the training modules.
Roger-Pol Droit, Frank Burbage et Stéphane Arguillère introduisent la journée "Philosophies d'ailleurs", 7 avril 2023
Stéphane Arguillère, Roger-Pol Droit et Frank Burbage introduisent la journée "Philosophies d'ailleurs", 7 avril 2023 © Sonia Leconte / Inalco‎

Proposed by Inalco for the first time this year, "Philosophies d'ailleurs" is a cycle of training and reflection aimed at secondary school philosophy teachers. Nearly 90 trainees have signed up for the 2022-2023 year.

Following the introduction into the curriculum of high school philosophy classes of new authors still largely foreign to French general culture, but fully relevant to the areal skills that are at the heart of the teaching and research carried out at Inalco, the institute proposed to the Philosophy Inspectorate the assembly, for the use of high school philosophy teachers, of a training scheme aimed at fostering a detailed knowledge of these authors.

The teaching modules focused on the following four new authors:

  • ZhuangZi (introduction to Chinese philosophy)
  • Nāgārjuna (introduction to Indian philosophy)
  • Avicenna (introduction to Arab-Muslim philosophy)
  • Maimonides (introduction to Jewish philosophy)


The teaching resources, accessible by trainees online and off-line (asynchronous distance learning), consist of filmed lectures accompanied by downloadable PDF documents, all complemented by a forum for interaction with the trainers.

This course is intended to be repeated in the coming years.