Philosophy department announces ‘Plato Prize’ winner
The winner of the 2013 Plato Prize is Josh Karosis, whose essay, “The Nature of the Self,” was selected as the best philosophical essay in the annual competition.
The Plato Prize is a competition for the best essay on a philosophical subject. The contest is open to all Castleton students and only requires that a submitted piece be written during the year of the award and that it addresses some philosophical subject.
Sponsored yearly by the Philosophy program as part of the English department, the winner of the completion receives a cash reward of $150, as well as the prestige of having their essay chosen as the best.
In addition to Karosis’ entry, competing essays included works from Giovanni Salzar, James McCormick and Nicholas Coombs.
Professor Bob Johnson, who helps facilitate and judge the competition, said that this years topics were remarkable. Salzar chose to reflect on the definition of tragedy in Aristotle’s Poetics; McCormick chose to focus on the classical contract theories of Locke, Hobbes and Rousseau and Coombs wrote a piece devoted to ethical will power.
“All entries were very good essays, showing a real commitment to the practice of philosophy and critical thinking,” Johnson said in an announcement to The Spartan.
For more information on the Plato Prize contest, contact professors Bob Johnson or Brendan Lalor at their Castleton email accounts: Robert.Johnson@castleton.edu and Brendan.Lalor@castleton.edu.
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