The Tony Chadwick Essay Prize

Dr Tony Chadwick, who died in January 1991, founded the Philosophical Society in 1973. He was Staff Tutor in Philosophy at what is now Oxford University Department for Continuing Education (OUDCE) which is based at Rewley House, Oxford. His family would like to encourage students of Philosophy who are connected with the traditional work of Rewley House.

An Essay Prize of £150 is awarded annually for the best essay from any member of the Philosophical Society, any Rewley House student of any day, evening, weekend or Summer school classes, or any students of philosophy groups who have connections with the Philosophical Society.

In addition to the £150, the prize includes a free philosophy weekend of the winner's choice (excluding accommodation charges).

There is a £75 prize for the runner-up (again, plus free weekend fees). This prize is known as the Boethius Prize. There is a £25 prize for the best essay written by someone whose age is less than 30. This is aimed at encouraging young philosophers. This prize is known as the Lyceum Prize.

Essays can be sent as either hard copy or email, to arrive not later than 1st July. For details (including eligibility criteria) and for some advisory guidelines, please see the Chadwick Prize Rules.

Please add a separate cover sheet, with your name and contact information, plus details of how you qualify to enter this competition (e.g. membership of the Society, or which class you have attended), and a signed statement saying "This essay is entirely my own original work".

Below you can download PDF versions of the essays of all the winners and runners-up since the competition began in 1993.

Tony Chadwick Prize Winners and Runners up
(If you think the same names keep reappearing, then you owe it to yourself to enter!)

2011 Winner: Christian Michel

The Consistency of Tense

2011 Boethius prize: Robert Stone

Intuitions and Self-Evidence in Moral Theories

2011 Lyceum prize: Shihwa Hwang-Meza

Lakatos' Immeasurable Contribution to Knowledge: the logical theory of the scientific method

2010 Winner: Mike Arnautov

Befriending the Liar Paradox

2010 Boethius prize: none

No prize awarded

2009 Winner: Christian Michel

The Liar Paradox Outside-In

2009 Boethius prize: Oliver Bridle

Is food not art because it is not expressive, not representational and incapable of interpretation?

2008 Winner: Christian Michel

Why Truth Trackers Do Not Need to Reject Epistemic Closure

2008 Boethius prize: Brenda Johnson

Does American Psycho Succeed Aesthetically and Morally for the Same Reasons?

2007 Winner: Michael Donnan

Rawl's Notion of Overlapping Consensus

2007 Boethius prize: Brenda Johnson

Can We Have Absolute Moral Obligations Towards the Environment?

2006 Winner: Eileen Walker

Can We Save 'Qualia'? (Thomas Nagel and the 'Psychophysical Nexus')

2006 Boethius prize: Brenda Johnson

Is there an Error Involved in the Way in Which we Typically Attribute Colour Properties to Objects?

2005 Winner: Frank Brierley

The Duplicity of the Transcendental Object

2005 Boethius prize: Phil Rees

The Post-Modern Critique of Science

2004 Winner: Frank Brierley

Are Ethical Principles Wholly Subjective, Founded Simply on Emotion?

2004 Boethius prize: Geoff Oliver

The Shape of Multicoloured Water

2003 Winner: Peter Gibson

Responsible Brains

2003 Boethius prize: Naomi Goulder

The Causality of the Will in Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals

2002 Winner: none

No prize awarded

2002 Boethius prize: none

No prize awarded

2001 Winner: Phil Rees

Nature Versus Nurture: Locke on Innate Ideas

2001 Boethius prize: Geoff Oliver

As Free as Can Be

2000 Winner: Eileen Walker

In Two Minds?

2000 Boethius prize: Trevor Pitts

Determinism, Indeterminism, Evolution and Free Will

1999 Winner: Phil Rees

The Mind Is Not the Brain: the Irreducibility of the Mental

1999 Boethius prize: Trevor Pitts

Quantum Teleology and the Origin of the Universe

1998 Winner: Trevor Pitts

Quantum Reality

1998 Boethius prize: Verna Muitt

The Janus Nature of Time

1997 Winner: Alan Bailey

Philosophy of Mind - a 50s View of the 90s

1997 Boethius prize: Cedric Wisbey

Concerning Infinity

1996 Winner: Colin Hannaford

A THESIS: That the Development of a Rational, Innovative Society, Internally Harmonious and Tolerant of Dissent, Depends on Understanding the Original Connection between Mathematics and Democracy

1996 Boethius prize: Pamela Barlow

In Search of Thomas Hobbes, the Man

1995 Winner: Peter Gibson

Stamping on Flowers

1995 Boethius prize: none

No prize awarded

1994 Winner: Pamela Barlow

Pioneer Russian Philosophers

1994 Boethius prize: Catherine Walton

To Be a Philosopher-King...

1993 Winner: Ronald Cretchley

Through the Looking Glass

1993 Boethius prize: Peter Lloyd

Is the Mind Physical? Dissecting Conscious Brain Tissue