The cornerstone of unity

24
PROMETHEUS CAMPS AND
THE YOUTH PHILOSOPHY EVENT
Many coming-of-age traditions give young people opportunities to develop their own sense of community away 
from their established roles at home and school and among their regular friends. In Finland, the Lutheran 
Church’s scripture school camp has retained its wide popularity in spite of the general secularisation of Finnish 
culture. 
Finnish schools have offered comparative religion and philosophy classes since 1984 to pupils from 
nonreligious families who do not want their children to take the traditional religious studies course. These pupils 
soon started to demand a true alternative to religious coming-of- age camps and in 1989 a group of them, 
together with their teachers, designed the first Prometheus camp. 
A coming-of-age camp with a non-religious orientation designed by teachers would not really constitute a 
significant social innovation, but very soon the young camp participants from previous years were recruited to 
plan, orgsnise and run the camps. This created a unique atmosphere in which around twenty youngsters in each 
camp together with two volunteer adult guides spend a week thinking about and discussing challenging themes 
about life, society and the human condition. 
Another innovative element is the absence of a guiding ideology or curriculum that should be learned during 
the camp. All the experiences, insights, thoughts and feelings of each participant, regardless of age, can be 
taken seriously and subjected to respectful criticism. The dialogue between the camp participants, the young 
assistant guides and the adult guides works because the programme has a good balance between thinking and 
discussing, experiencing and active doing. Nobody knows in advance where the discussions might lead. 
Youths who participate in organizing Prometheus camps get an opportunity to shoulder real responsibility as 
they organize, plan and run an activity that usually requires highly trained adults. Without any big fuss they grow 
into their roles, cheerfully caring for their tasks, working with the group and each other as a team. They are able 
to face the strangest challenges and to confidenly enter into serious discussion with unfamiliar authority figures. 
The tradition of Prometheus camps gave birth to the youth philosophy event, now an established tradition in its 
own right. The camp experience of a natural flow of dialogue inspired the idea of a big public event with speakers 
from the highest rank of thinkers, philosophers, politicians, scientists and artists who are invited to face the youths 
on their own terms. 
In the youth philosophy event the speaker is first allowed only fiteen minutes on the stand followed by half an 

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hour of dialogue with two well-prepared young opponents (aged 16
–25), after which the whole audience can join 
in as well. The whole session lasts 90 minutes and often delves deeply into the speaker’s theme. The main 
focus is a dialogue marked by mutual respect rather than trying to show off any superior knowledge. 
The three-day event, organised in collaboration with students of philosophy at Helsinki University and 
teachers of philosophy and comparative religion and philosophy. 
Both the Prometheus camps and the Youth philosophy event are strong, developing and growing even if they 
are not based on a commercial format or have the support of financial or political backers. The power of voluntary 
activity has given thousands of young Finns a unique opportunity to take a decicive step into adulthood without any 
ideological baggage. 
Matti Mäkelä 
– Chairperson of the Prometheus Camp
Association 2000
–2005