The winner of each category will be awarded a prize of £300. The runner up will win £100.
Stage 1: The Essay
Detailed instructions
The winner from each category will receive £300, and the runner up £100. Revised versions of the two winning essays will be considered for publication in the Journal of Practical Ethics, though publication is not guaranteed.
Assessors will be asked to divide their marks to give 10% on the quality/originality of question posed; 40% originality of argument; and 50% quality of the argument.
The essay of up to 2000 words may cover any topic relevant to practical ethics. The question to be addressed should be stated clearly in bold at the outset. The focus of the marking will be on the quality and originality of your argument. References are therefore allowed but are not required. The essay can draw upon existing published work but needs to be sufficiently original for it to be eligible for consideration of publication in the Journal of Practical Ethics.
Submissions should be prepared for blind review by our assessors. Please remove any identifying information from your manuscript (both as a pdf and a word document) and provide a title sheet on a separate file with the title of your essay, your name and contact details, including email. Please include a word count. Please note that essays exceeding 2000 words cannot be considered. Footnotes are not included in the word count, however footnotes should be kept to a minimum. All assessors will be blinded to the identity of contributors and software to detect plagiarism will be employed. The best two papers from each section will go to the final round, where there will be a 15 minute presentation of each paper, followed by 15 minute question time from the panel and audience. The presentation will take place as a live public wedinar event.
The Prize
To enter, please submit your written papers by the end of Tuesday 9th February 2021 to rocci.wilkinson@philosophy.ox.ac.uk. Finalists will be notified on Tuesday 23rd February of selection. The online public presentation will take place in 8th Week, Hilary term 2021, on Wednesday 10th March, from 5pm. Please save this presentation date, as you will need to attend if selected as a finalist. Stage 2: Presentation
The panel will make a final judgement based on 75% weighting on the quality of the paper, and 25% from the presentation and question and answer session.
All finalists will also be considered for publication on the blog Practical Ethics in the News and all entrants will be invited to attend the presentations. Winners and shortlisted entrants will be announced on the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics’ website and notified by email.
