The Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize

Oriel is proud to organise the Lloyd Davies Prize in Philosophy.  The top prize will be £250 and there will be a second prize of £150. The winners’ essays may appear on the Oriel web-site, with the permissions of their authors. 

How to enter:

Details of the 2012 competition, including essay titles, will be available on this page from the 19th March. The deadline for submission of essays will be the 8th June.

2011 winners

The winner of the 2011 competition was Max Dalton for his essay 'Are liberty and equality compatible?' (First Prize). The second prize was awarded to Torben Schwartz, for his essay 'Could a machine be conscious?'.  Eleanor Sharman's essay on 'Are liberty and equality compatible?' received a commendation.  Congratulations!

There were 58 entries in 2011, with the question on liberty and equality being the most popular title. The standard of the essays was varied. The two prize winning essays and the commended essay, like many other essays, showed clarity in writing, relevance to the question, and a good argumentative structure. Max Dalton’s essay stood out ahead, being highly polished, comprehending, and penetrating. The explication of Nozick's argument is very clear, and the author's response to it very thoughtful – developing into an interesting discussion of property rights as a component of liberty.