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Society Policies and Terms

About these policies

This page brings together the policies and conditions governing membership of, and participation in the activities of, the Philosophical Society: Oxford.

Throughout this website, these policies and any other relevant publications, the terms the Society, the Philosophical Society and Philsoc refer to the Philosophical Society: Oxford, unless otherwise indicated.

Individual activities, events and publications may have additional requirements or conditions, which will be stated where relevant.

1. Code of Conduct

The Society upholds the highest standards of respectful and reasoned discourse. Any form of rudeness, personal attack, or disruptive conduct, whether in tone or substance, will not be tolerated.

The purpose of the Society is to advise and encourage anyone with an interest in philosophy. Its various discussion groups, meetings and other activities provide opportunities for pursuing this objective.

All members are expected to be charitable towards the views of others and to engage with each other according to the accepted norms of a Socratic approach through critical questioning, reasoning, and mutual exploration rather than assertion or confrontation.

Discussions within the Society, whether conducted in person, online or through correspondence, should reflect the values of courtesy, openness and intellectual respect that define the Society. We welcome robust debate and the free exchange of ideas, provided these are expressed with civility and consideration for others

The opinions expressed by members in any such exchanges are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Society.

Failure to observe these standards may, regrettably, result in suspension from the Discussion Forum. In repeated or serious cases, membership of the Society itself may be reviewed. The Committee’s decision on such matters shall be final.

2. Views and Opinions

The opinions expressed by members in Society discussions, presentations, publications and other activities are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Society.

The Society encourages the free exchange and critical examination of philosophical ideas. Views expressed by members, speakers and other contributors, whether in discussion, presentations, correspondence or published material, are their own and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Society.

The Society's publication, presentation or recognition of a contribution, including the award of a prize, does not imply endorsement of the views expressed in it.

3. Plagiarism and AI Policy

The Society operates on an honour system: by submitting any of their writing, be it an essay or a discussion contribution, authors affirm that they have read the works they cite, and that any ideas presented without attribution are genuinely their own and not drawn from other sources, human or AI, without acknowledgement.

If AI was used only to ‘assist’ language, grammar, or structure, then no disclosure is required. But if any part of the work was 'AI-generated', then AI should be cited, as any other reference.

Even when assisted by AI tools, authors bear full intellectual responsibility for every proposition in their submitted work.

4. Payments and Refunds

The Society collects payments principally in respect of annual membership subscriptions and event bookings.

Membership subscriptions are non-refundable except in exceptional circumstances, where refunds remain at the discretion of the Committee.

Event booking payments are refundable provided that a request is received before the cancellation deadline applicable to the event in question. Deadlines vary by event and will be stated at the time of booking.

The Society reserves the right to handle any other payments on terms appropriate to the circumstances.

5. Data Policy (GDPR)

1. All members’ personal data is held securely and only a very small subset of data (name and town) is shared with the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education (OUDCE) for members to receive a 10% discount for Weekend and Day Philosophy courses at OUDCE and to borrow philosophy books from OUDCE’s Rewley House Library.
2. Other than the small subset of data shared with OUDCE, members’ data is used solely for the purpose of communicating with members and sending copies of the annual Review.
3. The data is not shared with any other third parties besides OUDCE, as specified in (1) above.
4. The Society website does not use cookies, except for maintaining a member login session while that session lasts. This session cookie contains only an encryption of the session’s IP address.
5. All email communications with members are either addressed individually or use ‘blind copies’.
6. Except when explicitly authorised or explicitly requested, the Society website does not and will not show any personal email addresses.
7. When members leave the Society, their data is held for eighteen (18) further months and is then deleted.
8. Members are free to request deletion of some or all their data, though this may have an unavoidable impact on services being provided.
9. When members are reminded by email to renew their membership, a link is provided to allow members to securely review and, if necessary, modify their personal data held by the Society.
10. In the event of a data breach, all members will be notified of the breach by email.
11. Members will be notified of any change to the data policy.

Existing Data Policy dated September 2025.

These policies are made available for the information of members, applicants, contributors and visitors. Where specific conditions apply to an application, booking or submission, attention will be drawn to the relevant provisions.

Consolidated document: [date of publication]