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The Ultimate Guide to the John Locke Essay Competition

Humanities and social sciences students often lack the opportunities to compete at the global level and demonstrate their expertise. Competitions like ISEF, Science Talent Search, and MIT Think are generally reserved for students in fields like biology, physics, and chemistry.

At Lumiere, many of our talented non-STEM students, who have a flair for writing are looking for ways to flex their skills. In this piece, we’ll go over one such competition - the John Locke Essay Competition. If you’re interested in learning more about how we guide students to win essay contests like this, check out our main page .

What is the John Locke Essay Competition?

The essay competition is one of the various programs conducted by the John Locke Institute (JLI) every year apart from their summer and gap year courses. To understand the philosophy behind this competition, it’ll help if we take a quick detour to know more about the institute that conducts it.

Founded in 2011, JLI is an educational organization that runs summer and gap year courses in the humanities and social sciences for high school students. These courses are primarily taught by academics from Oxford and Princeton along with some other universities. The organization was founded by Martin Cox. Our Lumiere founder, Stephen, has met Martin and had a very positive experience. Martin clearly cares about academic rigor.

The institute's core belief is that the ability to evaluate the merit of information and develop articulate sound judgments is more important than merely consuming information. The essay competition is an extension of the institute - pushing students to reason through complex questions in seven subject areas namely Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology, and Law.

The organization also seems to have a strong record of admissions of alumni to the top colleges in the US and UK. For instance, between 2011 and 2022, over half of John Locke alumni have gone on to one of eight colleges: Chicago, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale.

How prestigious is the John Locke Contest?

The John Locke Contest is a rigorous and selective writing competition in the social sciences and humanities. While it is not as selective as the Concord Review and has a much broader range of students who can receive prizes, it is still considered a highly competitive program.

Winning a John Locke essay contest will have clear benefits for you in your application process to universities and would reflect well on your application. On the other hand, a shortlist or a commendation might not have a huge impact given that it is awarded to many students (more on this later).

What is the eligibility for the contest?

Students, of any country, who are 18 years old or younger before the date of submission can submit. They also have a junior category for students who are fourteen years old, or younger, on the date of the submission deadline.

Who SHOULD consider this competition?

We recommend this competition for students who are interested in social sciences and humanities, in particular philosophy, politics, and economics. It is also a good fit for students who enjoy writing, want to dive deep into critical reasoning, and have some flair in their writing approach (more on that below).

While STEM students can of course compete, they will have to approach the topics through a social science lens. For example, in 2021, one of the prompts in the division of philosophy was, ‘Are there subjects about which we should not even ask questions?’ Here, students of biology can comfortably write about topics revolving around cloning, gene alteration, etc, however, they will have to make sure that they are able to ground this in the theoretical background of scientific ethics and ethical philosophy in general.

Additional logistics

Each essay should address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, footnotes, bibliography, or authorship declaration).

If you are using an in-text-based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.

You can submit as many essays as you want in any and all categories. (We recommend aiming for only one given how time-consuming it can be to come up with a single good-quality submission)

Important dates

Prompts for the 2023 competition will be released in January 2023. Your submission will be due around 6 months later in June. Shortlisted candidates will be notified in mid-July which will be followed by the final award ceremony in September.

How much does it cost to take part?

What do you win?

A scholarship that will offset the cost of attending a course at the JLI. The amount will vary between $2000 and $10,000 based on whether you are a grand prize winner (best essay across all categories) or a subject category winner. (JLI programs are steeply-priced and even getting a prize in your category would not cover the entire cost of your program. While the website does not mention the cost of the upcoming summer program, a different website mentions it to be 3,000 GBP or 3600 USD)

If you were shortlisted, most probably, you will also receive a commendation certificate and an invitation to attend an academic ceremony at Oxford. However, even here, you will have to foot the bill for attending the conference, which can be a significant one if you are an international student.

How do you submit your entry?

You submit your entry through the website portal that will show up once the prompts for the next competition are up in January! You have to submit your essay in pdf format where the title of the pdf attachment should read SURNAME, First Name, Category, and Question Number (e.g. POPHAM, Alexander, Psychology, Q2).

What are the essay prompts like?

We have three insights here.

Firstly, true to the spirit of the enlightenment thinker it is named after, most of the prompts have a philosophical bent and cover ethical, social, and political themes. In line with JLI’s general philosophy, they force you to think hard and deeply about the topics they cover. Consider a few examples to understand this better:

“Are you more moral than most people you know? How do you know? Should you strive to be more moral? Why or why not?” - Philosophy, 2021

“What are the most important economic effects - good and bad - of forced redistribution? How should this inform government policy?” - Economics, 2020

“Why did the Jesus of Nazareth reserve his strongest condemnation for the self-righteous?” - Theology, 2021

“Should we judge those from the past by the standards of today? How will historians in the future judge us?” - History, 2021

Secondly, at Lumiere, our analysis is that most of these prompts are ‘deceptively rigorous’ because the complexity of the topic reveals itself gradually. The topics do not give you a lot to work with and it is only when you delve deeper into one that you realize the extent to which you need to research/read more. In some of the topics, you are compelled to define the limits of the prompt yourself and in turn, the scope of your essay. This can be a challenging exercise. Allow me to illustrate this with an example of the 2019 philosophy prompt.

“Aristotelian virtue ethics achieved something of a resurgence in the twentieth century. Was this progress or retrogression?”

Here you are supposed to develop your own method for determining what exactly constitutes progress in ethical thought. This in turn involves familiarizing yourself with existing benchmarks of measurement and developing your own method if required. This is a significant intellectual exercise.

Finally, a lot of the topics are on issues of contemporary relevance and especially on issues that are contentious . For instance, in 2019, one of the prompts for economics was about the benefits and costs of immigration whereas the 2020 essay prompt for theology was about whether Islam is a religion of peace . As we explain later, your ‘opinion’ here can be as ‘outrageous’ as you want it to be as long as you are able to back it up with reasonable arguments. Remember, the JLI website clearly declares itself to be, ‘ not a safe space, but a courteous one ’.

How competitive is the JLI Essay Competition?

In 2021, the competition received 4000 entries from 101 countries. Given that there is only one prize winner from each category, this makes this a very competitive opportunity. However, because categories have a different number of applicants, some categories are more competitive than others. One strategy to win could be to focus on fields with fewer submissions like Theology.

There are also a relatively significant number of students who receive commendations called “high commendation.” In the psychology field, for example, about 80 students received a commendation in 2022. At the same time, keep in mind that the number of students shortlisted and invited to Oxford for an academic conference is fairly high and varies by subject. For instance, Theology had around 50 people shortlisted in 2021 whereas Economics had 238 . We, at Lumiere, estimate that approximately 10% of entries of each category make it to the shortlisting stage.

How will your essay be judged?

The essays will be judged on your understanding of the discipline, quality of argumentation and evidence, and writing style. Let’s look at excerpts from various winning essays to see what this looks like in practice.

Level of knowledge and understanding of the relevant material: Differentiating your essay from casual musing requires you to demonstrate knowledge of your discipline. One way to do that is by establishing familiarity with relevant literature and integrating it well into their essay. The winning essay of the 2020 Psychology Prize is a good example of how to do this: “People not only interpret facts in a self-serving way when it comes to their health and well-being; research also demonstrates that we engage in motivated reasoning if the facts challenge our personal beliefs, and essentially, our moral valuation and present understanding of the world. For example, Ditto and Liu showed a link between people’s assessment of facts and their moral convictions” By talking about motivated reasoning in the broader literature, the author can show they are well-versed in the important developments in the field.

Competent use of evidence: In your essay, there are different ways to use evidence effectively. One such way involves backing your argument with results from previous studies . The 2020 Third Place essay in economics shows us what this looks like in practice: “Moreover, this can even be extended to PTSD, where an investigation carried out by Italian doctor G. P. Fichera, led to the conclusion that 13% of the sampling units were likely to have this condition. Initiating economic analysis here, this illustrates that the cost of embarking on this unlawful activity, given the monumental repercussions if caught, is not equal to the costs to society...” The study by G.P. Fichera is used to strengthen the author’s claim on the social costs of crime and give it more weight.

Structure, writing style, and persuasive force: A good argument that is persuasive rarely involves merely backing your claim with good evidence and reasoning. Delivering it in an impactful way is also very important. Let’s see how the winner of the 2020 Law Prize does this: “Slavery still exists, but now it applies to women and its name in prostitution”, wrote Victor Hugo in Les Misérables. Hugo’s portrayal of Fantine under the archetype of a fallen woman forced into prostitution by the most unfortunate of circumstances cannot be more jarringly different from the empowerment-seeking sex workers seen today, highlighting the wide-ranging nuances associated with commercial sex and its implications on the women in the trade. Yet, would Hugo have supported a law prohibiting the selling of sex for the protection of Fantine’s rights?” The use of Victor Hugo in the first line of the essay gives it a literary flair and enhances the impact of the delivery of the argument. Similarly, the rhetorical question, in the end, adds to the literary dimension of the argument. Weaving literary and argumentative skills in a single essay is commendable and something that the institute also recognizes.

Quality of argumentation: Finally, the quality of your argument depends on capturing the various elements mentioned above seamlessly . The third place in theology (2020) does this elegantly while describing bin-Laden’s faulty and selective use of religious verses to commit violence: “He engages in the decontextualization and truncation of Qur'anic verses to manipulate and convince, which dissociates the fatwas from bonafide Islam. For example, in his 1996 fatwa, he quotes the Sword verse but deliberately omits the aforementioned half of the Ayat that calls for mercy. bin-Laden’s intention is not interpretive veracity, but the indoctrination of his followers.” The author’s claim is that bin-Laden lacks religious integrity and thus should not be taken seriously, especially given the content of his messages. To strengthen his argument, he uses actual incidents to dissect this display of faulty reasoning.

These excerpts are great examples of the kind of work you should keep in mind when writing your own draft.

6 Winning Tips from Lumiere

Focus on your essay structure and flow: If logic and argumentation are your guns in this competition, a smooth flow is your bullet. What does a smooth flow mean? It means that the reader should be able to follow your chain of reasoning with ease. This is especially true for essays that explore abstract themes. Let’s see this in detail with the example of a winning philosophy essay. “However, if society were the moral standard, an individual is subjected to circumstantial moral luck concerning whether the rules of the society are good or evil (e.g., 2019 Geneva vs. 1939 Munich). On the other hand, contracts cannot be the standard because people are ignorant of their being under a moral contractual obligation, when, unlike law, it is impossible to be under a contract without being aware. Thus, given the shortcomings of other alternatives, human virtue is the ideal moral norm.” To establish human virtue as the ideal norm, the author points out limitations in society and contracts, leaving out human virtue as the ideal one. Even if you are not familiar with philosophy, you might still be able to follow the reasoning here. This is a great example of the kind of clarity and logical coherence that you should strive for.

Ground your arguments in a solid theoretical framework : Your essay requires you to have well-developed arguments. However, these arguments need to be grounded in academic theory to give them substance and differentiate them from casual opinions. Let me illustrate this with an example of the essay that won second place in the politics category in 2020. “Normatively, the moral authority of governments can be justified on a purely associative basis: citizens have an inherent obligation to obey the state they were born into. As Dworkin argued, “Political association, like family or friendship and other forms of association more local and intimate, is itself pregnant of obligation” (Dworkin). Similar to a family unit where children owe duties to their parents by virtue of being born into that family regardless of their consent, citizens acquire obligations to obey political authority by virtue of being born into a state.” Here, the author is trying to make a point about the nature of political obligation. However, the core of his argument is not the strength of his own reasoning, but the ability to back his reasoning with prior literature. By quoting Dworkin, he includes important scholars of western political thought to give more weight to his arguments. It also displays thorough research on the part of the author to acquire the necessary intellectual tools to write this paper.

The methodology is more important than the conclusion: The 2020 history winners came to opposite conclusions in their essays on whether a strong state hampers or encourages economic growth. While one of them argued that political strength hinders growth when compared to laissez-faire, the other argues that the state is a prerequisite for economic growth . This reflects JLI’s commitment to your reasoning and substantiation instead of the ultimate opinion. The lesson: Don’t be afraid to be bold! Just make sure you are able to back it up.

Establish your framework well: A paragraph (or two) that is able to succinctly describe your methodology, core arguments, and the reasoning behind them displays academic sophistication. A case in point is the introduction of 2019’s Philosophy winner: “To answer the question, we need to construct a method that measures progress in philosophy. I seek to achieve this by asserting that, in philosophy, a certain degree of falsification is achievable. Utilizing philosophical inquiry and thought experiments, we can rationally assess the logical validity of theories and assign “true” and “false” status to philosophical thoughts. With this in mind, I propose to employ the fourth process of the Popperian model of progress…Utilizing these two conditions, I contend that Aristotelian virtue ethics was progress from Kantian ethics and utilitarianism.” Having a framework like this early on gives you a blueprint for what is in the essay and makes it easier for the reader to follow the reasoning. It also helps you as a writer since distilling down your core argument into a paragraph ensures that the first principles of your essay are well established.

Read essays of previous winners: Do this and you will start seeing some patterns in the winning essays. In economics, this might be the ability to present a multidimensional argument and substantiating it with data-backed research. In theology, this might be your critical analysis of religious texts .

Find a mentor: Philosophical logic and argumentation are rarely taught at the high school level. Guidance from an external mentor can fill this academic void by pointing out logical inconsistencies in your arguments and giving critical feedback on your essay. Another important benefit of having a mentor is that it will help you in understanding the heavy literature that is often a key part of the writing/research process in this competition. As we have already seen above, having a strong theoretical framework is crucial in this competition. A mentor can make this process smoother.

Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you’re looking for a mentor to do an essay contest like John Locke or want to build your own independent research paper, then consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program . Last year over 2100 students applied for about 500 spots in the program. You can find the application form here.

You can see our admission results here for our students.

Manas is a publication strategy associate at Lumiere Education. He studied public policy and interactive media at NYU and has experience in education consulting.

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Everything You Should Know about the John Locke Institute (JLI) Essay Competition

By Jin Chow

Co-founder of Polygence, Forbes 30 Under 30 for Education

2 minute read

We first wrote about the world-famous John Locke Institute (JLI) Essay Competition in our list of 20 writing contests for high school students . This contest is a unique opportunity to refine your argumentation skills on fascinating and challenging topics that aren’t explored in the classroom.

The Oxford philosopher, medical doctor, political scientist, and economist John Locke was a big believer in challenging old habits of the mind. In that spirit, the JLI started this contest to challenge students to be more adventurous in their thinking.

While not quite as prestigious as getting published in The Concord Review , winning the grand prize or placing in one of the 7 categories of the JLI Essay Competition can get your college application noticed by top schools like Princeton, Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge. Awards include $2,000 scholarships (for category winners) and a $10,000 scholarship for the grand prize. (The scholarships can be applied to the JLI’s Summer Schools at Oxford, Princeton, or Washington D.C., or to its Gap Year programs in Oxford, Guatemala, or Washington, D.C.)

But winning isn’t necessarily the best thing about it. Simply entering the contest and writing your essay will give you a profound learning experience like no other. Add to that the fact that your entry will be read and possibly commented on by some of the top minds at Oxford and Princeton and it’s free to enter the competition . The real question is: why wouldn’t you enter? Here’s a guide to get you started on your essay contest entry.

Eligibility

The John Locke Institute Essay Competition is open to any student anywhere in the world , ages 15-18. Students 14 or under are eligible for the Junior prize.

JLI Essay Competition Topics

The essay questions change from year to year. You can choose from 7 different categories (Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology, and Law). Within each category, there are 3 intriguing questions you can pick from. When you’re debating which question to write about, here’s a tip. Choose whichever question excites, upsets, or gives you any kind of strong emotional response. If you’re passionate about a topic, it will come through in your research and your writing. If you have any lived experience on the subject, that also helps.

re are some sample questions the 2023 contest for each of the seven JLI essay subject categories and the Junior Prize (the questions change each year):

Philosophy : Is tax theft?

Politics : Do the results of elections express the will of the people?

Economics : What would happen if we banned billionaires?

History : Which has a bigger effect on history: the plans of the powerful or their mistakes?

Psychology : Can happiness be measured?

Theology : What distinguishes a small religion from a large cult?

Law : Are there too many laws?

Junior Prize : What, if anything, do your parents owe you?

John Locke Writing Contest Requirements

Your essay must not exceed 2,000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography, or authorship declaration) and must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category. No footnotes are allowed, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes.

Timeline and Deadlines

January - New essay questions are released

April 1st - Registration opens

May 31st - Registration deadline

June 30th - Essay submission deadline

We highly recommend you check the JLI website as soon as the new questions are released in January and start researching and writing as soon as you can after choosing your topic. You must register for the contest by the end of May. The deadline for the essay submission itself is at the end of June, but we also recommend that you submit it earlier in case any problems arise. If you start right away in January, you can have a few months to work on your essay.

John Locke Institute Essay Competition Judging Criteria

While the JLI says that their grading system is proprietary, they do also give you this helpful paragraph that describes what they are looking for: “Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material , the competent use of evidence , quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind . Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful. Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible. ” (We’ve bolded important words to keep in mind.)

You can also join the JLI mailing list (scroll to the bottom of that page) to get contest updates and to learn more about what makes for a winning essay.

Research and Essay Writing Tactics

Give yourself a baseline. First, just write down all your thoughts on the subject without doing any research. What are your gut-level opinions? What about this particular question intrigued you the most? What are some counter-arguments you can think of right away? What you are trying to do here is identify holes in your knowledge or understanding of the subject. What you don’t know or are unsure about can guide your research. Be sure to find evidence to support all the things you think you already know.

Create a reading/watching list of related books, interviews, articles, podcasts, documentaries, etc. that relate to your topic. Find references that both support and argue against your argument. Choose the most highly reputable sources you can find. You may need to seek out and speak to experts to help you locate the best sources. Read and take notes. Address those questions and holes in the knowledge you identified earlier. Also, continue to read widely and think about your topic as you observe the world from day to day. Sometimes unrelated news stories, literature, film, songs, and visual art can give you an unexpected insight into your essay question. Remember that c is a learning experience and that you are not going to have a rock-solid argument all at once.

Read past winning essays . These will give you a sense of the criteria judges are using to select winning work. These essays are meant to convince the judges of a very specific stance. The argument must be clear and must include evidence to support it. You will note that winning entries tend to get straight to the point, show an impressive depth of knowledge on the subject with citations to reputable sources, flow with excellent reasoning, and use precise language. They don’t include flowery digressions. Save that for a different type of writing.

Proof your work with a teacher or mentor if possible . Even though your argument needs to be wholly your own, it certainly helps to bounce ideas around with someone who cares about the topic. A teacher or mentor can help you explore different options if you get stuck and point you toward new resources. They can offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses. Working with a teacher or mentor is important for another reason. When you submit your entry, you will be required to provide the email address of an “academic referee” who is familiar with your work. This should be a teacher or mentor who is not related to you.

Research and Prepare for your Competition or Fair

Polygence pairs you with an expert mentor in your area of passion. Together, you work to create a high quality research project that is uniquely your own. Our highly-specialized mentors can help guide you to feel even more prepared for an upcoming fair or competion. We also offer options to explore multiple topics, or to showcase your final product!

Everything You Need to Know About John Locke Essay Competition in 2024

Indigo Research Team

John Locke Essay Competition is one of the most popular and international essay competitions for high school students. Those who were first and honorable mention in this competition went on to attend Princeton, Oxford, and other Ivy League universities.

Not to mention placing in the top three of the competition, even receiving an honorable mention is a fantastic addition to your admissions resume and is viewed by admissions officers from Harvard to Stanford and beyond as one of the most distinguished accomplishments a high school student can accomplish! Keep reading this blog to know more about this essay competition.

What is the John Locke Essay Competition?

The John Locke Writing Competition is hosted by the non-profit John Locke Institute, a university with offices in Oxford, UK. Professors from top colleges like Oxford, Princeton, Brown, and Buckingham University work at the John Locke Institute.

The John Locke Global Essay Competition Institute helps young people to develop the qualities of great writers, such as critical analysis, persuasiveness, independence of thought, and range of knowledge. Students are allowed to investigate a wide range of topics that fall outside the scope of their coursework.

Why should you participate?

Participating in the John Locke Competition 2024 is a great idea if you want to improve your academic performance and stand out on your college application. Securing a prize or simply making the shortlist might attract the attention of elite university admission panels, demonstrating your commitment to and proficiency in the classroom.

Along with offering participants a great opportunity to interact with current global concerns through engaging themes, the competition also helps participants hone their critical thinking skills by having them write insightful, well-researched essays.

Essay topics

Students must submit an argumentative essay that is at most 2000 words long. The main subjects of the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 include philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, religion, and law.

The following are the topics for the 2024 John Locke Essay Contest.

Philosophy

Tips for Students

Essays can only deal with one of the topics in the subject category you have selected, and they should be at most 2000 words (not including copyright declarations, examples, tables of data, or footnotes).
If you follow an in-text referencing style like APA, the word count includes your in-text citations.
You can submit an unlimited number of essays in all categories. (Considering how difficult it may be to produce a single high-quality submission, we recommend going for just one.)

Pay close attention to the structure and flow of your essay in the John Locke Essay Competition 2024. If justifications and logic are your primary weapons in this contest, then your writing's fluidity is your weapon. What is meant by a smooth flow? It suggests the reader must understand your line of argument easily. This is especially true for articles that explore otherworldly topics.

Important dates

Registration starts on April 1, 2024.
The deadline for registration is May 31, 2024.
Deadline for submissions: June 30, 2024.
Deadline for late entries: July 10, 2024.
Essayists on the shortlist will be notified on July 31, 2024.
Academic conference, September 20, 22nd, 2024.
Dinner for awards: September 21, 2024.

Read the questions and make a connection to John Locke's ideas.

You can present a sophisticated and perceptive analysis that thoroughly comprehends both the essay prompt and Locke's thoughts by linking the philosopher's ideas and the essay prompt. This method demonstrates your understanding of the subject matter and helps you interact critically with it. Along with do consider John Locke's most famous work to increase the chance of success.

Outline Thoroughly

Before diving into writing, create a clear outline outlining your main arguments and supporting evidence. This helps maintain focus and coherence throughout the essay, ensuring each paragraph contributes meaningfully to your overall argument.

Clear arguments

Once you've determined your position on the matter, it's essential to support it with solid information from reliable sources and logical reasoning. Scholarly articles, books, and academic journals are just a few of the resources available to students to help them gather pertinent data and craft well-reasoned arguments. Furthermore, ensure that your essay has a compelling thesis statement and that the organization and ideas are presented in a way that makes it easy for the reader to follow. Also, reading John Locke's essay competition’s past essays can help you to understand complete assignments.

Revise Strategically

Take breaks between writing and revising to gain a fresh perspective. When revising, pay attention to sentence structure, grammar, and coherence. Ensure each paragraph flows logically into the next, and that your ideas are expressed with clarity and precision.

Seek Feedback

Share your essay with peers, teachers, or writing groups for constructive criticism. Consider their feedback thoughtfully and use it to refine your work. Embrace constructive criticism as an opportunity for growth, allowing you to identify blind spots and strengthen your writing skills over time

Common Questions Related to the John Locke Essay Competition

Which skills of students is the john locke essay competition assessing.

Fundamental understanding of concepts and theories in economics, politics, history, psychology, theology, or law
Proficiency at writing argumentative essays and mastery of basic writing frameworks
Logical analysis methods, independent thought, and written persuasive

What are the awards for the John Locke Essay Competition?

As part of their award, each topic category winner will receive a scholarship worth $2000 (US dollars) for any program offered by the John Locke Institute.
A scholarship worth $10,000 (USD) to attend one or more of our summer schools and gap year programs will be awarded to the writer of the overall winning essay.
The Institute will make the pieces available online.
Networking opportunities with judges and other academics at the John Locke Institute.

This essay competition is one of the best ways to bring out the essence of youth, freedom of expression, and a student’s critical thinking ability. Thus, we encourage high school students to take part in it and convey their enthusiasm and revolutionary thoughts to shape the world.

Joining the John Locke Essay Competition 2024 requires some amazing ideas and clever solutions. Indigo Research is the perfect spot for curious high schoolers who want to explore more and turn their bright ideas into reality. We connect you with top mentors to dive into research projects you're passionate about.

Think about mixing the challenge and smart thinking from the Locke competition with Indigo Research's supportive research environment. This combo can really make your college applications shine and show off your unique talents.

All essayists must register here by 11:59PM BST on 31 May 2024.

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Enrollment Process

BLUE PROGRAM

John Locke Essay Competition

Eligibility

Any nationality, 18 years old or younger

Type(s) of Writing

Philosophical, Argumentative

Related Subject(s)

Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology, and Law

Expected # of References

June 30th 2024

The John Locke Essay Competition inspires philosophical thinkers from across the globe to share their ideas and openly challenge controversial topics. By encouraging students to craft essays that express their independent thoughts, the depth of their academic inquiry and exploration, and capture previously unrepresented perspectives, the John Locke Essay Competition is the place where new ideas meet time-tested conflicts.

Contestants have the opportunity to address prompts in categories such as Economics, Philosophy, Politics, History, Law, Theology, and Psychology. Although every year, the essay prompts change, John Locke consistently encourages students to bring their unique moral, philosophical, and rational beliefs to every competition cycle. While an essay prompt may exist in the History category, John Locke asks its contestants to examine the topic from an unconventional approach and write an essay that you could never find in a textbook or previously published journal. Students typically write essays anywhere between 1,500 to 2,000 words—enough space to persuasively develop their arguments. By participating in the John Locke Essay Competition, students get the chance to forget about memorization—and can instead examine where they stand and what they believe.

The J&B Essay Consulting team works with students to help them express and polish their ideas in written form, honing their knowledge and logic. As students work one-on-one with a team of experienced J&B consultants, they get the opportunity to break down research, analysis, and critical thinking to prepare them for a future of out-of-the-box ideation and innovative essay writing.

https://www.johnlockeinstitute.com/essay-competition

Essay Prompts

Philosophy

Q1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Q2. Do girls have a right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

Q3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

Politics

Q1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

Q2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

Q3. When is compliance complicity?

Economics

Q1. What is the optimal global population?

Q2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

Q3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

History

Q1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

Q2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

Q3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Psychology

Q1. According to a study by four British universities, for each 16-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by 35% for a man but decreases by 40% for a woman. Why?

Q2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

Q3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Theology

Q1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

Q2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

Q3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

Q1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

Q2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

JUNIOR Prize

Q1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

Q2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

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2024 John Locke Essay Competition is open!

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John Locke Global Essay Competition (Standard Prize & Junior Prize)

Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.

Entering an essay in our competition can build knowledge and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by senior academics from the University of Oxford. The judges will choose their favourite essay from each subject category and an overall 'best essay' across seven subjects: Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law.

The Institute awards two separate prizes:

For the standard prize a prize is awarded for the best essay in each category.
For the Junior Prize there is only one winner.

The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior Prize, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute program and the essays will be published on the Institute's website. The prize-giving ceremony takes place in Oxford, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome, subject to capacity constraints.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or gap year courses.

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Students must be 18 or younger
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Registration is required, which one can do here.
Essays should address only one of the questions in a chosen subject category but students may submit more than one essay so long as they are in different categories.
Essays must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, footnotes, bibliography, or authorship declaration).
Essays should be submitted in pdf format, through the website.

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Submissions are now open for 2021 Global Essay Competition organised by The John Locke Institute! Apply now!

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. The Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum. Entering an essay in the competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of the essay prizes are judged by senior academics from the University of Oxford. The judges will choose their favourite essay from each subject category and an overall ‘best essay’ across seven subjects: Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law.

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Criteria: Essays will be judged on the level of knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, the quality of argumentation, the structure, writing style and persuasive force. Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is-

A scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme
The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of the summer schools and/or gap year courses
The essays will be published on the Institute’s website
The prize-giving ceremony will take place in Oxford, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome, subject to capacity constraints

The judges’ decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

Eligibilities

Entry is open to students from any country and any school.
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Who should own your data? The companies with which you agree to share your data, everybody, just you, or nobody?

Jason Hausenloy, United World College of South East Asia (East Campus), Singapore

Winner of the 2020 Junior Prize | 7.5 min read

Today, we produce unfathomable amounts of data, leading the OECD to call data a “key pillar of 21st-century growth.” [1] Legislators, politicians and the popular press have increasingly called for ownership of data. [2]

Ownership is generally defined as “full and complete control with recognised legal rights,” with legal discretion for the rightsholder to exploit, change, destroy, possess, exclude others from and transfer their property. [3] An ownership right for personal data does not currently exist in the legal statutes of any industrialised country. [4] Property laws intentionally exclude personal data from subject matter definitions and newly introduced regulatory frameworks do not specify data ownership. [5] [6]

In 1893, Sir William Blackstone noted the human fascination with ownership, saying we desire “ sole and despotic dominion … in total exclusion of rights of other individuals in the universe .” [7] In this case, that fascination detracts from the problems and solutions surrounding personal data today. An ownership right should not be created for data. To illustrate this, I shall explore the implications of assigning a data ownership right to corporations, everybody, individuals and then discuss why data should not be owned at all.

Corporations

Legally, data generated by corporations have limited protection under trade-secret and other commercial laws. [8] However, corporations have gained de facto control of our data without our explicit consent through cleverly-crafted user interfaces, consumer nonchalance and labyrinthine policies hidden within fine print. The Norwegian Consumer Council exposed “dark patterns” - default settings, nudging, the creation of an illusion of choice - used by tech companies to discourage consumers from exercising their privacy rights. [9] Furthermore, surveys show, in light of recent data privacy scandals, individuals say they are increasingly distrustful in corporations to adequately protect their privacy. [10] Nevertheless, in practice, individuals demonstrate little regard for their personal data, a dichotomy referred to as the “ privacy paradox .” [11] Empirical research has shown the majority of users lack the time and expertise to understand fine print. [12] Consumers readily grant consent to handover data in exchange for convenience or access to services. [13]

By examining the current state of the data economy, under the de facto control of corporations, we can anticipate the potential implications of corporate data ownership.

Dominant players of the data economy boast revenues that eclipse national GDPs and user populations that exceed continents. [14] They aspire to automate, predict and influence individual behaviour, often without their knowledge. In this way, they have provided immense consumer benefit. Few can imagine living without Google search, WhatsApp messaging, or Amazon delivery. However, this monopoly on data has equipped tech giants with enormous power, which has resulted in a stagnant data economy and monopolistic markets.

Data exhibits unique properties from other economic goods. It is intangible, non-exhaustible, easily duplicated and can be simultaneously used by multiple parties in a non-rivalrous manner. [15] Through analysis of existing datasets, new findings and knowledge can be extracted. At the onset, these attributes imply data should circulate freely to maximise the scope of potentially beneficial applications. Unfortunately, this is not happening with each company protects its own vaults of user data with limited transactions. [16] Untraded, data suffers “the tragedy of the anticommons” in which a non-rivalrous good is wastefully underused at the detriment of consumers and society. [17]

Digital monopolies have a data-supported “God’s eye” view of their own market, with unparalleled insight into nearly every aspect of consumer life. They buy or undercut smaller, potential competitors. Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp or Amazon’s undercutting of third-party sellers are two of many examples. [18] They are unlikely to be blindsided by small start-ups or unexpected technological shifts and, with undue pricing advantages, can consolidate or expand their market shares without necessarily innovating. [19] With legally-recognised ownership, corporations further lack the incentive to reduce current inequalities in wealth distribution from the expanding data economy, protect consumers or actuate a sustainable data economy to facilitate societal progression. [20]

To summarise, corporations have shrewdly gained our permission and can easily do so again. The data economy desperately requires data standardisation and portability to level the playing field and realise the immense socioeconomic potential of today’s abundance of data. Corporate ownership of data removes control and protections from consumers and regulators and will worsen today’s problems. So why not entrust data ownership to “everybody” who, by definition, should act for the common good?

Having everybody owning everyone’s data implies all can legally access, manipulate and mine everybody else’s identifiable data. In this scenario researchers could analyse unbiased population datasets, start-ups could access the same raw data as giant corporations and AI algorithms could train on continuously acquired, diverse datasets. However, privacy would be non-existent and current innovation stymied.

There are obvious privacy issues if identifiable personal data are accessible by all. Openly-available data, in the wrong hands, can be manipulated for mass surveillance, identity theft, blackmail or even social engineering. To address this, regulators have proposed anonymisation as a potential solution. Data protection laws consider anonymised data as “non-personal,” stripping it of many privacy protections. [21] In theory, properly anonymised data, by definition, would be impossible to link to an identifiable person - however, current anonymisation techniques are ineffective. There are countless examples of supposedly anonymised databases being re-identified. [22] [23] [24] To promote transparency, the Australian Government released de-identified health records of 10% of Australians, which the University of Melbourne subsequently re-identified with openly available public information. [25] The Guardian secured the browsing history of three million Germans from a so-called “data broker” and individually identified users and exposed deeply sensitive information such as sexual preference or medications. [26] Furthermore, Rocher, Hendrickx and Montjoye, published a statistical model that can, with just 15 demographic attributes, uniquely identify 99.98% of Massachusetts residents. They challenged “the technical and legal adequacy of the de-identification release-and-forget model.” [27]

Even personal data handled by governments and corporations are anonymous only in name. The extensive detail of these datasets pale, however, in comparison with the plethora of data collected by today’s digital giants. If released, anonymised or otherwise, individual privacy would cease to exist.

Furthermore, data collectors would rightfully object to competitors using data produced from their investment or grants. Data’s mandatory release jeopardises business models made possible through data collection and removes incentive for continued innovation. A report released by MIT and Oracle argues that, for corporations, user data is an indispensable capital good and competitive advantage. [28] Forced, non-discriminating distribution of capital goods undermines key principles of the free market.

In summary, public ownership of data, anonymous or otherwise, results in significant degradation in privacy and innovation. So how about an option championed by privacy campaigners, politicians and media alike - individual ownership?

Individuals

Proponents for individual ownership argue that this offers the ultimate protection of privacy and allows fair financial compensation for personal data. [29] You own your house, you retain the full legal rights to sell it, to rent it and to exclude others from entering. It is understandably appealing.

Unfortunately, these arguments are flawed. Individual ownership and accompanying data markets, are impractical, harmful for consumers and, counterintuitively, degrade and damage privacy.

Firstly, information today rarely concerns a single individual. We take group photos, travel with other people and even our genetic code reveals information about our parents. Assuming the predicament of co-ownership can be solved, a data market is impractical.

Given its intangibility, putting a price on data is extremely challenging. Small businesses cannot afford to pay for people’s data, making it difficult to complete and comply and the compensation paid by large companies will be negligible. For example, Facebook’s worldwide revenue per user is

$6.42 - only a fraction of that would be paid as “data dividends.” [30] Furthermore, consumers would have to continuously manage data contracts with each service provider, which could result in consumer decision fatigue. [31] Corporations may then take advantage of this by appending clauses demanding exclusive, royalty-free, ownership rights to data as a prerequisite to the use of services. A single bad decision to sell or sign away personal data could be irreversible. Corporations would have little incentive to promote data portability or competition; users will continue to be walled into ecosystems of data monopolies.

In addition, individual ownership may damage the common good. It opens the door to unwanted nuisance or even civil disruption to governance and law enforcement. For example, during the globally-enforced COVID-19 lockdowns, individuals could object to their location being tracked and contest police enforcement strategies, such as CCTV cameras or drones . [32] Socially beneficial activities, like medical informational studies or AI research, may only have greatly diminished or biased data sets.

Lastly, human rights such as privacy and data protection, under current legislation, are inalienable rights. [33] Under individual ownership, those rights are degraded to alienable economic goods, [34] and should not be open to surrender or sale. [35]

In summary, individual data ownership fails at many levels. Privacy International, a leading privacy advocacy organisation, concluded that individual ownership fails to protect consumers, combat data monopolies and is fundamentally incompatible with data. [36] Therefore, current legislation, human rights organisations and academia have largely ignored or argued against ownership of data. [37] Why?

The problems and challenges of data ownership highlighted in the prior sections, can be summarised as follows; market concentration of tech companies, wasteful underuse of data, privacy concerns and increasing consumer distrust but subsequent inaction. Many associate legislative inaction to assign data ownership as the root cause of these problems, blaming the control vacuum for inviting greedy corporations and autocratic governments to seize power. There is an important distinction between the non-assignment of ownership and inaction, however. Demands for radical change are warranted, but should take the form as a continuation of current progress. Continued discussion of the precarious implementation of data ownership side-tracks political, academic and public focus to address these underlying problems.

Professor Lothar Determann argues there is no legal principle for data ownership, writing in the Hastings Law Journal, that “ property laws may protect physical embodiments of information...but such protection does not extend to the informational content. ” [38] He further contends that incentivising data collection, the rationale offered by lawmakers for creating ownership rights in data, is invalid, as collection will continue to grow exponentially. [39 ]

Legislative progress has been made without data ownership. The EU has incentivised data access and EU-wide data markets, even making its own publicly held datasets accessible for reuse, while simultaneously balancing individual concerns, introducing the widely-adopted General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). [40] It grants specific rights to individuals over generated and inferred personal data such as; erasure, rectification, data portability and more. [41] Furthermore, it sets out privacy principles such as data minimisation, fairness and purpose specification, which shift the burden from individuals to corporations. [42]

There are many examples of revolutionary data-driven advances in many sectors of society [43] including decentralised systems and various business models (the “sharing economy,” for example). [44] Distributed Data Network architectures for medical research are trialling in Canada, the EU and Japan. [45] Federated Learning enables Machine Learning training on decentralised data, like that saved on individual devices - and is already being implemented . [46] More recently, unfettered access to personal data has been critical in the fight against today’s COVID-19 pandemic.

OpenSAFELY , an analytics platform for sharing the data of 17 million NHS patients, [47] has enabled the discovery of new risk factors and novel treatments for COVID-19. [48] Apple and Google have partnered to develop a Bluetooth contact-tracing platform for COVID-19 that addresses user privacy and security concerns. Under the rigidity of data ownership, these efforts would not have been possible.

Today, policy makers must strike a balance between individual rights and extracting societal benefits of data. It is the subject of age-old philosophical debate; whether to prioritise a categorical imperative of privacy at the expense of utilitarian societal progress. Assigning data ownership to a single party means choosing a side, one side will inevitably lose out - sacrificing progress or privacy. Thankfully, reality does not reflect this simplistic trade-off. Ergo, legislators must continue to push for a sector-specific rights-based regulatory framework to complement existing efforts and forgo the need to legislate through assigning data ownership. Therefore, I believe, data should remain as is, res nullius - “property of no one.”

Author's Note:

Unless specified otherwise, I will interpret “your data” to mean personal data as it is commonly differentiated as such in regulation and discussion on data protection. Personal data is a category of data defined, according to the General Data Protection Regulation, to be “any information which are related to an identified or identifiable natural person.”

1 OECD (2015), Data-Driven Innovation: Big Data for Growth and Well-Being, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264229358-en.

2 E.g. The Economist. 2019. “We Need to Own Our Data as a Human Right—and Be Compensated for It.” The Economist. January 21, 2019. https://www.economist.com ; “Digital Privacy Rights Require Data Ownership.” 2018. Financial Times. March 21, 2018. https://www.ft.com/ ; Ritter & Mayer, Regulating Data as Property: A New Construct for Moving Forward, 16 Duke Law & Technology Review 220-277 (2018)

3 “Definition of OWNER • Law Dictionary • TheLaw.Com.” The Law Dictionary, July 12, 2014. https://dictionary.thelaw.com/owner/.

4 Determann, Lothar. 2018. “No One Owns Data.” SSRN Electronic Journal. 24-25 https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3123957; Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, “Arguments Against ‘Data Ownership’ - Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition.” 1-2. Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition. 2020. (“However a data ownership right does not currently exist either at EU or Member State level, or in any other industrialised country”)

5 See General Data Protection Regulation, para. 63 “(General Data Protection Regulation)” 2016. https://eur- lex.europa.eu/

6 Determann, See Supra note 3, at 24-26

7 Blackstone, Sir William. 1893 “Of Property, in General” in George Sharswood (ed) Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England in Four Books (J.B. Lippincott Co, Philadelphia, 1893) Vol 1, Bk 2, Ch 1 8 Determann, See Supra note 4. 14-17

9 “Report: Deceived by Design : Forbrukerrådet.” 2018. Forbrukerradet.No. 2018. 6, 13-19, 31. https:/ /ww w .forbrukerradet.no

10 Shipman, Frank M. and Catherine C. Marshall. “Ownership, Privacy and Control in the Wake of Cambridge Analytica | Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.” 2020. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3313831.3376662.

11 Barth, Susanne and Menno D.T. de Jong. “The Privacy Paradox – Investigating Discrepancies between Expressed Privacy Concerns and Actual Online Behavior – A Systematic Literature Review.” Telematics and Informatics 34, no. 7 (November 2017): 1038–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.04.013.

12 “Does Anyone Read the Fine Print? Consumer Attention to Standard-Form Contracts on JSTOR.” 2014. 9-13, 31-32. Jstor.Org. 2014. https://www.jstor.org/ ;

13 Whitley et al. 2018. “Report on a Study of How Consumers Currently Consent to Share Their Financial Data with a Third Party.” https:/ /ww w .fs-cp.org.uk/

14 See Winck, Ben. 2020. “The 5 Most Valuable US Tech Companies Are Now Worth More than $5 Trillion after Alphabet’s Record Close.” Markets.Businessinsider.Com. January 17, 2020. https://markets.businessinsider.com See Also Business Insider España. 2018. “25 Giant Companies That Are Bigger than Entire Countries” Business Insider. July 25, 2018. https://www.businessinsider.com

15 Jones, Charles I. and Christopher Tonetti. “Nonrivalry and the Economics of Data.” Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2019. https:/ /ww w .gsb.stanford.edu/

16 See the Economist. 2017. “Data Is Giving Rise to a New Economy.” The Economist. May 6, 2017. https://www.economist.com/ (“The data economy, that term suggests, will consist of thriving markets for bits and bytes. But as it stands, it is mostly a collection of independent silos.”)

17 Heller, Michael, The Tragedy of the Anticommons: Property in the Transition from Marx to Markets (January 1998). 111 Harv. L. Rev. 621-688 (1998), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=57627

18 See “WhatsApp: The Best Facebook Purchase Ever?” 2020. Investopedia. 2020. https://www.investopedia.com See also Anderson, George. 2014. “Is Amazon Undercutting Third-Party Sellers Using Their Own Data?” Forbes, October 30, 2014. https:/ /ww w .forbes.com/

19 Arrow, Kenneth. 1962. “Chapter Title: Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention” ISBN: 0– 87014. 615- 619 https://www.nber.org/chapters/c2144.pdf. (“The preinvention monopoly power acts as a strong disincentive to further innovation”)

20 The Economist. 2020. “Who Will Benefit Most from the Data Economy?” The Economist. February 20, 2020. https:/ /ww w .economist.com/

21 See para. 26 “EUR-Lex - 31995L0046.” 2018. Europa.Eu. 2018. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A31995L0046.

22 E.g. Lavrenovs, Arturs and Karlis Podins. 2016. “Privacy Violations in Riga Open Data Public Transport System.” 2016 IEEE 4th Workshop on Advances in Information, Electronic and Electrical Engineering (AIEEE), November. https://doi.org/10.1109/aieee.2016.7821808 ; See Also Montjoye, Y.-A. de, L. Radaelli, V. K. Singh and A. S. Pentland. 2015. “Unique in the Shopping Mall: On the Reidentifiability of Credit Card Metadata.” Science 347 (6221): 536–39. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1256297.

23 Brewster, Thomas. 2017. “120 Million American Households Exposed In ‘Massive’ ConsumerView Database Leak.” Forbes, December 19, 2017. https:/ /ww w .forbes.com/

24 Brewster, Thomas. 2015. “191 Million US Voter Registration Records Leaked In Mystery Database.” Forbes, December 30, 2015. https:/ /ww w .forbes.com/

25 Teague, Vanessa. 2017. “The Simple Process of Re-Identifying Patients in Public Health Records.” Pursuit. The University of Melbourne. December 17, 2017. https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/

26 Hern, Alex. 2017. “‘Anonymous’ Browsing Data Can Be Easily Exposed, Researchers Reveal.” The Guardian. The Guardian. July 31, 2017. https:/ /ww w .theguardian.com/

27 Rocher, Luc, Julien M. Hendrickx and Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye. 2019. “Estimating the Success of Re- Identifications in Incomplete Datasets Using Generative Models.” Nature Communications 10 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10933-3.

28 “The Rise of Data Capital.” MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW CUSTOM. 2016. http://files.technologyreview.com/whitepapers/MIT_Oracle+Report- The_Rise_of_Data_Capital.pdf?_ga=2.99922398.1378618533.1594295645-622520249.1591953709.

29 WILL.I.AM, See Supra note 2.

30 Reiff, Nathan.“Facebook Earnings: What Happened.” Investopedia, 2020. Table 1 . https:/ /ww w .investopedia.com/facebook-earnings-4692424.

31Tierney, John. “Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?” The New York Times, August 17, 2011. https:/ /ww w .nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html.

32 Pidd, Helen and Vikram Dodd. 2020. “UK Police Use Drones and Roadblocks to Enforce Lockdown.” The Guardian. The Guardian. March 26, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/ ; Hadavas, Chloe. “France Is Using A.I. to Detect Whether People Are Wearing Masks.” Slate Magazine. Slate, May 8, 2020. https://slate.com/

33 “Charter of Fundamental Rights.” European Data Protection Supervisor - European Data Protection Supervisor, 2020. (Those rights… are inalienable... The rights include the right to privacy and the right to data protection) https://edps.europa.eu/data-protection/our-work/subjects/charter-fundamental-rights_en.

34 Jeong, Sarah. “Opinion | Selling Your Private Information Is a Terrible Idea.” The New York Times, July 5, 2019. https:/ /ww w .nytimes.com/

35 “Privacy and Human Rights - Overview.” 2020. Gilc.Nl. 2020. (“Privacy underpins human dignity and other key values such as freedom of association and freedom of speech”) https:/ /ww w .gilc.nl/

36 Pavel, Valentina. 2019. “Our Data Future.” Privacy International. July 17, 2019. https://privacyinternational.org/long- read/3088/our-data-future.

37 Determann, Supra note 3

38 Ibid. 25.

39 Ibid. 6-7, 35.

40 2020. “A European Strategy for Data.” (“aim to increase the use of and demand for, data and data-enabled products and services throughout the Single Market.”) https://ec.europa.eu/ ; See Generally Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information

41 General Data Protection Regulation, See supra note 5, at Section 3 Art. 16, 17, 20.

42 Ibid. See Art. 5 (“Principles relating to processing of personal data”)

43 Bryant, Randal, Randy Katz and Edward Lazowska. 2008. “Big-Data Computing: Creating Revolutionary Breakthroughs in Commerce, Science and Society Motivation: Our Data-Driven World.” See Also Richards, Neil and Jonathan King. 2014. “BIG DATA ETHICS.” 393-394

44 Benkler, Yochai. 2004.“Sharing Nicely: On Shareable Goods and the Emergence of Sharing as a Modality of Economic Production.” The Yale Law Journal. https:/ /ww w .jstor.org

45 Evans, Barbara. 2011. “MUCH ADO ABOUT DATA OWNERSHIP.” Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 25. 99-101; See Also Richard Platt et al., The New Sentinel Network — Improving the Evidence of Medical-Product Safety, 361 New England Journal of Medicine. 645–47 (2009)

46 Bonawitz, Keith, Hubert Eichner, Wolfgang Grieskamp, Dzmitry Huba, Alex Ingerman, Vladimir Ivanov, Chloé Kiddon, et al. 2019. “TOWARDS FEDERATED LEARNING AT SCALE: SYSTEM DESIGN.” and Yang et al. 2018.

“Applied Federated Learning: Improving Google Keyboard Query Suggestions.”

47 “OpenSAFELY.” Opensafely.org, 2020. https://opensafely.org/.

48 Williamson, et al. “OpenSAFELY: Factors Associated with COVID-19 Death in 17 Million Patients.” Nature, July 8, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2521-4.

Bibliography

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-----. “EUR-Lex - 32016R0679 - EN - EUR-Lex.” Europa.eu, 2016. https://eur- lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj.

-----. “The Rise of Data Capital.” MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW CUSTOM. 2016. http://files.technologyreview.com/whitepapers/MIT_Oracle+Report- The_Rise_of_Data_Capital.pdf?_ga=2.99922398.1378618533.1594295645- 622520249.1591953709.

“Data-Driven Innovation: Big Data for Growth and Well-Being | En | OECD.” Oecd.org, 2015. https:// www.oecd.org/innovation/data-driven-innovation-9789264229358-en.htm.

“Digital Privacy Rights Require Data Ownership.” @FinancialTimes. Financial Times, March 21, 2018. https:// www.ft.com/content/a00ecf9e-2d03-11e8-a34a-7e7563b0b0f4.

“EUR-Lex - 31995L0046 - EN - EUR-Lex.” Europa.eu, 2018. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A31995L0046.

“OpenSAFELY.” Opensafely.org, 2020. https://opensafely.org/. 2020.

Anderson, George. 2014. “Is Amazon Undercutting Third-Party Sellers Using Their Own Data?” Forbes, October 30, 2014. https:// www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2014/10/30/is-amazon- undercutting-third-party-sellers-using-their-own-data/#1920dab353d8

Arrow, Kenneth. 1962. “Chapter Title: Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention” ISBN: 0–87014. 615-619 https:// www.nber.org/chapters/c2144.pdf.

Bakos, Marotta-Wurgler and Trossen. “Does Anyone Read the Fine Print? Consumer Attention to Standard-Form Contracts on JSTOR.” Jstor.org, 2014. https:// www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/674424?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Barth, Susanne and Menno D.T. de Jong. “The Privacy Paradox – Investigating Discrepancies between Expressed Privacy Concerns and Actual Online Behaviour – A Systematic Literature Review.” Telematics and Informatics 34, no. 7 (November 2017): 1038–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.04.013.

Blackstone, Sir William. 1893 “Of Property, in General” in George Sharswood (ed) Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England in Four Books (J.B. Lippincott Co, Philadelphia, 1893)

Bonawitz, Keith, Hubert Eichner, Wolfgang Grieskamp, Dzmitry Huba, Alex Ingerman, Vladimir Ivanov, Chloé Kiddon, et al. 2019. “TOWARDS FEDERATED LEARNING AT SCALE:

SYSTEM DESIGN.” and Yang et al. 2018. “Applied Federated Learning: Improving Google Keyboard Query Suggestions.”

Brewster, Thomas. 2015. “191 Million US Voter Registration Records Leaked In Mystery Database.” Forbes, December 30, 2015. https:// www.forbes.com/

Brewster, Thomas. 2017. “120 Million American Households Exposed In ‘Massive’ ConsumerView Database Leak.” Forbes, December 19, 2017. https:// www.forbes.com/

Bryant, Randal, Randy Katz and Edward Lazowska. 2008. “Big-Data Computing: Creating Revolutionary Breakthroughs in Commerce, Science and Society Motivation: Our Data-Driven World.” See Also Richards, Neil and Jonathan King. 2014. “BIG DATA ETHICS.” 393-394

Business Insider España. “25 Giant Companies That Are Bigger than Entire Countries - Business Insider.” Business Insider. Business Insider, July 25, 2018. https:// www.businessinsider.com/25- giant-companies-that-earn-more-than-entire-countries-2018-7.

Determann, Lothar, No One Owns Data (February 14, 2018). UC Hastings Research Paper No. 265, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=31239 57 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3123957

Deutsch. “WhatsApp: The Best Facebook Purchase Ever?” Investopedia, 2020. https:// www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/032515/whatsapp-best-facebook-purchase-ever.asp Evans, Barbara. 2011. “MUCH ADO ABOUT DATA OWNERSHIP.” Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 25. 99-101; See Also Richard Platt et al., The New Sentinel Network — Improving the Evidence of Medical-Product Safety, 361 New England Journal of Medicine. 645–47 (2009)

Frank M. and Catherine C. Marshall. 2020. “Ownership, Privacy and Control in the Wake of Cambridge Analytica | Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.”

Heller, Michael, The Tragedy of the Anticommons: Property in the Transition from Marx to Markets (January 1998). 111 Harv. L. Rev. 621-688 (1998), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=57627

Hern, Alex. “‘Anonymous’ Browsing Data Can Be Easily Exposed, Researchers Reveal.” the Guardian. The Guardian, July 31, 2017. https:// www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/01/data-browsing-habits-brokers. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html Shipman, Jeffrey Ritter & Anna Mayer, Regulating Data as Property: A New Construct for Moving Forward, 16 Duke Law & Technology Review 220-277 (2018)

Jeong, Sarah. “Opinion | Selling Your Private Information Is a Terrible Idea.” The New York Times, July 5, 2019. https:// www.nytimes.com/2019/07/05/opinion/health-data-property- privacy.html.

Jones, Charles I. and Christopher Tonetti. “Nonrivalry and the Economics of Data.” Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2019. https:// www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working- papers/nonrivalry-economics-data.

Kaldestad. Øyvind H. “DECEIVED BY DESIGN,” 2018. https://fil.forbrukerradet.no/wp- content/uploads/2018/06/2018-06-27-deceived-by-design-final.pdf.

Lavrenovs, Arturs and Karlis Podins. 2016. “Privacy Violations in Riga Open Data Public Transport System.” 2016 IEEE 4th Workshop on Advances in Information, Electronic and Electrical Engineering (AIEEE), November. https://doi.org/10.1109/aieee.2016.7821808. Montjoye, Y.-A. de, L. Radaelli, V. K. Singh and A. S. Pentland. 2015. “Unique in the Shopping Mall: On the Reidentifiability of Credit Card Metadata.” Science 347 (6221): 536–39. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1256297.

Pavel, Valentina. 2019. “Our Data Future.” Privacy International. July 17, 2019. https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/3088/our-data-future.

Reiff, Nathan. “Facebook Earnings: What Happened.” Investopedia, 2020. https:// www.investopedia.com/facebook-earnings-4692424.

Rocher, Luc, Julien M. Hendrickx and Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye. 2019. “Estimating the Success of Re-Identifications in Incomplete Datasets Using Generative Models.” Nature Communications 10 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10933-3.

Teague, Vanessa. 2017. “The Simple Process of Re-Identifying Patients in Public Health Records.” Pursuit. The University of Melbourne. December 17, 2017. https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/the-simple-process-of-re-identifying-patients-in-public- health-records

The Economist. 2017. “Data Is Giving Rise to a New Economy.” The Economist. The Economist. May 6, 2017. https:// www.economist.com/briefing/2017/05/06/data-is-giving-rise-to-a-new- economy

The Economist. 2020. “Who Will Benefit Most from the Data Economy?” The Economist. The Economist. February 20, 2020. https:// www.economist.com/special-report/2020/02/20/who-will- benefit-most-from-the-data-economy

Tierney, John. “Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?” The New York Times, August 17, 2011. Tomaso Falchetta. “Down with the Data Monarchy.” POLITICO. October 8, 2016. https:// www.politico.eu/article/down-with-the-data-monarchy-protection-platforms-facebook- whatsapp/

Whitley, Edgar, Lorena Carrasco, Alexandra Gencheva, Shaffra Gray-Read, Rovik Robert, Zahra Shah, Washington-Ihieme Kar and Yee Yip. “Report on a Study of How Consumers Currently Consent to Share Their Financial Data with a Third Party.” 2018. https://www.fs- cp.org.uk/sites/default/files/fscp_report_on_how_consumers_currently_consent_to_share_their_dat a.pdf.

WILL.I.AM. “We Need to Own Our Data as a Human Right—and Be Compensated for It.” The Economist. The Economist, January 21, 2019. https:// www.economist.com/open- future/2019/01/21/we-need-to-own-our-data-as-a-human-right-and-be-compensated-for-it.

Williamson, Elizabeth J., Alex J. Walker, Krishnan Bhaskaran, Seb Bacon, Chris Bates, Caroline E. Morton, Helen J. Curtis, et al. “OpenSAFELY: Factors Associated with COVID-19 Death in 17 Million Patients.” Nature, July 8, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2521-4.

Winck, Ben. “The 5 Most Valuable US Tech Companies Are Now Worth More than $5 Trillion after Alphabet’s Record Close.” markets.businessinsider. January 17, 2020. https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/most-valuable-tech-companies-total-worth- trillions-alphabet-stock-record-2020-1-1028826533.

Graders Needed for Essay Competition

The John Locke Institute is seeking final-year undergraduate and graduate students who might be interested in becoming graders of our Essay Competition for appropriate remuneration.

The globally renowned John Locke Institute annual essay competition covers topics in the categories of Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Law, Theology, and Psychology. Free to enter, the competition attracts entries from students of 14 to 18 years old from all over the world. Since its launch, it has been growing apace. Last year, we received about 7,400 entries from students with the widest possible range of socioeconomic backgrounds from over 100 countries.

For most participants, the competition provides their first opportunity to research, write and have graded a university-style essay that makes an original argument. The experience motivates many of them to raise their sights to institutions of learning of the highest quality – such as the Ivy League in the USA, and Oxbridge in the UK – that they would otherwise have not considered.

Submitted essays are graded in the first instance by academically talented graduates and final-year undergraduates, before the very best of them are sent to Professors in the relevant disciplines for final marking and the selection of prize-winners.

The three questions in the Economics category for which we are looking for graders are as follows.

Q1 . A government funds its own expenditure by taxing its population. Suppose, instead, it relied solely on money newly created by the central bank? What would be the advantages and/or disadvantages?

Q2 . In his thought experiment, the Iowa Car Crop, David Friedman tries to show that growing wheat is, in an important sense, just another ‘technology’ we can use for manufacturing cars, and in some circumstances a much more efficient one.

If international trade is thus a way of using less valuable inputs to produce more valuable outputs, why would governments impose trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas, thereby forcing producers to be more wasteful and less efficient?

Q3 . What would happen if we banned billionaires?

The grading work will be intense, interesting and satisfying, and begin on July 1, to be completed in about two weeks . Graders have flexibility regarding their hours and speed at which they work.

Essays are up to 2000 words long and need only be given a numerical grade. We will pay $2 per essay and require a commitment to grade 500 essays (or more only if the grader wishes to do more). A grader who has hit his or her stride should be able to make at least $25 an hour.

Further details and examples of previous years’ questions can be viewed on our website .

Interested final-year undergraduate and graduate students should email [email protected] to declare their interest and obtain further details.

1022 International Affairs Building (IAB)

Mail Code 3308

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New York, NY 10027

An examination of modern faith and our human nature to want to look beyond scientific fact has earned a Westminster pupil a podium place in a prestigious global essay competition

Selected from hundreds of entries to the Theology category of the 2022 John Locke Institute Essay Competition, Chloe (PP, Sixth Form) was awarded third place for her essay, Is Faith Anything Other than Uncertain Belief on Incomplete Evidence? , a study of the emergence of new interpretations of faith in the early twenty-first century. In considering the New Atheist stance that theological beliefs cannot be supported by logical or empirical evidence and are, therefore, meaningless, Chloe explores why such an approach to faith could be deemed as reductionist to a religious believer. She concludes by suggesting that human nature implores us to find meaning beyond simple scientific explanation and, for many, religious faith is essential in providing the foundations to do so.

The John Locke Institute’s annual, global essay competition invites young scholars to show their depth of knowledge and persuasiveness of writing across seven different subjects: philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology and law, and gives a chance for work to be read and assessed by experts from the University of Oxford . This year more than 8,000 students entered from across the globe. In the Theology category, Chloe was placed behind only students from Australia and the USA, and across all seven categories just three UK students were placed within the top three.

As a shortlisted essayist, Chloe was invited to attend three days of lectures to debate issues surrounding theology, law and economics at the John Locke Institute, Oxford.

Twitter Post

The defence of faith beyond scientific reasoning explored by Westminster pupil in award-winning essay Selected from hundreds of entries to the Theology category of the 2022 @JohnLockeInst Essay Competition, Chloe (PP, Sixth Form) was awarded third place. https://t.co/aQVDmKPPyv pic.twitter.com/CWPSAK3tNS — Westminster School (@wschool) October 6, 2022

Chloe said of winning third prize: “The news came as a shock to me. I had read the essays of previous winners on the website, all of which were incredible, and I never dreamed that I would be able to produce anything of that level. During the awards ceremony, whilst the judges were announcing the names of people who had received a commendation for their essays, I was shivering all over because I thought they had forgotten about me. I’m still in disbelief.

“As someone who grew up in a largely secular background, I had always wanted to know more about the different and diverse worldviews across the globe. Writing to address a question that required in-depth knowledge about religion thus helped me further my understanding of individual religious communities. Putting academics aside, however, I was aware that the topic I had been exploring was extremely poignant and personal, which made writing it all the more meaningful.

“It took me around a month to research and write the essay. Initially, I had spent a week on my first draft, but afterwards I completely redrafted a second version of the essay where I changed my entire stance.”

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Expert Guide to the John Locke Essay Competition Philosophy Questions
Last modified 2024-03-29
Published on 2024-03-26

1. John Locke Essay Competition Philosophy Questions 2024

Q1. do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition, q2. do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys, q3. should i be held responsible for what i believe.

The question “Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?” delves into the fundamental basis of moral decision-making and the validity of relying on intuitive moral judgments. Students first need to understand what moral intuition is and be able to explain that in detail.

After establishing the foundation of moral intuition, it’s recommended that students explore the significance of moral intuition in moral cognition and decision-making. How does moral intuition contribute to our understanding of right and wrong? What role does it play in shaping individual and collective moral behavior?

The next step that would help guide students in answering the question is to verify the rationale behind placing trust in our moral intuition. Are there evolutionary, psychological, or philosophical arguments that justify relying on moral intuition as a reliable guide for ethical judgments? How do cultural, emotional, and reflective factors influence the credibility of moral intuitions?

However, establishing the credibility of moral intuition requires scrutiny. What constitutes a “good reason” to trust our moral intuitions, and how do we differentiate genuine intuitions from biases or cultural influences? Exploring alternative approaches to moral decision-making offers insights into contrasting methodologies and their implications for moral discourse.

This is a multi-faceted question with different parts that we can dissect. The first step is setting the foundation. Begin by examining the concept of moral rights and their relevance in the context of sports.

Additionally, it may be a worthwhile endeavor to examine the definitions of gender, and how we differentiate between girls and boys, especially when it comes to sports. Are these means of differentiation morally or scientifically sound? Why do they exist, and do they exist for valid reasons? It could also be relevant to consider the inclusion of trans athletes in particular gendered groups, both as edge cases to these qualifications, and because of the highly morally charged dialogue surrounding this issue.

Secondly, delve into the spectrum of moral rights, distinguishing between positive rights, which entail entitlements to receive certain goods or services, and negative rights, which involve freedoms from interference or coercion. How do these moral rights manifest in the realm of sports, particularly concerning gender inclusion? What ethical considerations arise when balancing the rights of athletes?

This question gives students an opportunity to explore a huge range of issues. It is first important to start by defining both beliefs and responsibility within the context of philosophy.

Then, there are various areas that students may consider exploring when considering our responsibility for beliefs. For example, students could explore the multifaceted idea of moral responsibility—do we make our own choices utilizing free will, or are our choices determined by some external factor(s) like the past and laws of physics? Regardless, what are the implications of moral responsibility, and what things must be true to require us to have this responsibility? And, if we don’t have moral responsibility, what are the implications of that?

Additionally, student could take an epistemological view of this topic by considering what constitutes a belief. How do we form beliefs and how do they impact or influence our knowledge? How do we know things, and what constitutes a justified, true belief? Do things like contradictions in our beliefs impact our responsibility over them? Especially because John Locke is considered to be a prominent empiricist, this may be a particularly interesting topic to explore.

Students could also consider this question from a more cognitive angle, analyzing bias and the ways that external factors impact our beliefs. What are the ethics of belief? Are we responsible for what we believe, or just how our beliefs manifest and impact others?

Overall, students should take the time to discuss the ethical implications of whether or not we have responsibility for what we believe. Lastly, how do we hold people responsible for their beliefs in society today?

Some other interesting questions students can ask throughout this process are: What power do we have over belief formation? How does freedom affect responsibility?

2. Some General Tips for Students to Keep in Mind While Writing Their Essay

Analyze the questions and link them to John Locke’s philosophy

Take the time to understand the essay prompt and what the question is asking for. By drawing connections between Locke’s philosophy and the essay prompt, you can provide a nuanced and insightful analysis that demonstrates a deep understanding of both the question and Locke’s ideas. This approach not only showcases your comprehension of the material but also allows you to engage critically with the topic at hand.

Clear reasoning with evidence drawn from extensive research

Once you decide on your stance about the question, it’s important to present your argument with logical reasoning and strong evidence from reputable sources. Students can utilize a variety of sources, including academic journals, books, and scholarly articles to gather relevant information and develop a well-informed argument. In addition, make sure that you have a strong thesis statement and that your structure and ideas are presented clearly, allowing your reader to navigate your essay with ease.

Engage in critical analysis

In addition to providing reasoning and evidence that support students’ arguments, students should also examine alternative perspectives to show that they have the ability to evaluate evidence critically– specifically the strengths and weaknesses of different viewpoints. The most important part of an argumentative essay is to answer the question, “so what?” Students should consider the wider implications of their argument, as well as why their audience should deeply care about what they have to say.

Refine Your Writing Style

This type of essay falls under the argumentative essay type. This essay type requires a third-person perspective throughout the introduction, body, and conclusion. Students should also use headings and transitions to create a smooth flow and overview of ideas without providing an excess of information.

Proofreading and Editing

Before submitting your essay and throughout the writing process, always seek feedback from peers and teachers to gain valuable insights and perspectives on your essay to help you make revisions and create the best essay you possibly can.

3. Aralia’s John Locke Competition Prep

In this John Locke Essay Competition Prep course, students will learn the ins and outs of essay writing, in preparation for entering the competition. We offer prep classes in all categories: philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology, and law. Students will choose one topic, compose an original thesis and argument, and write an essay for submission. Students will engage in a guided analysis of primary and secondary sources, develop critical thinking skills, and discover interesting insights. In addition to the group lecture classes, students will receive guidance on their individual projects from the instructor, in one-on-one sessions.

Interested in learning more?

Aralia Education is an innovative online education platform for ambitious middle and high school students worldwide. Aralia’s instructors propel students forward by helping them build a strong foundation in traditional academic courses. They also actively engage and guide students in exploring personal interests beyond their school curriculum. With this holistic approach, Aralia ensures its students are well-prepared for college and equipped for success in their future careers.

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2024 Essay Competition
Academic conference: 20 - 22 September, 2024. Awards dinner: 21 September, 2024. Contact. Any queries regarding the essay competition should be sent to [email protected]. Please be aware that, due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, we cannot guarantee to answer every query.
The Ultimate Guide to the John Locke Essay Competition
The John Locke Contest is a rigorous and selective writing competition in the social sciences and humanities. While it is not as selective as the Concord Review and has a much broader range of students who can receive prizes, it is still considered a highly competitive program. Winning a John Locke essay contest will have clear benefits for you ...
John Locke Institute (JLI) Essay Competition Guide
JLI Essay Competition Topics. The essay questions change from year to year. You can choose from 7 different categories (Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology, and Law). Within each category, there are 3 intriguing questions you can pick from. When you're debating which question to write about, here's a tip.
John Locke Essay Competition: Guide & Overview 2024
Students must submit an argumentative essay that is at most 2000 words long. The main subjects of the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 include philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, religion, and law. The following are the topics for the 2024 John Locke Essay Contest. Philosophy. Politics. Economics. History. Psychology.
JLI Essay Competition
All essayists must register here by 11:59PM BST on 31 May 2024. Enter your email address below to: Register (if this is your first time here) or Login (if you have already registered).
Expert Guide to the John Locke Essay Competition History Questions
The John Locke Essay Competition just released its history questions for 2024! Let's dive deeper to understand John Locke Essay Competition History Questions, specifically what they're asking, and identify common themes across prompts throughout the year. In this comprehensive guide, we'll navigate these questions, offering insightful tips and strategies to help you confidently ace your ...
Your Guide to the John Locke Essay Competition
The John Locke Essay competition is acknowledged as the most prestigious essay competition in the world. Free to enter, it is hosted by the John Locke Institute, named after the Oxford philosopher John Locke (b. 1634 - d. 1704), who is often called the 'father of liberalism' and is one of the most important thinkers from the Enlightenment ...
A Complete Guide To The John Locke Essay Competition
A Complete Guide To The John Locke Essay Competition - Crimson Education US. A Complete Guide To The John Locke Essay Competition . Join our exclusive info session if want to find out more about the John Locke Competition and what it takes to enter an award-winning essay. Session 1: 5 PM (GMT-0) Feb 24th Session 2: 3 AM (GMT-0) Feb 25th.
John Locke
Word Limit. 2000 . Deadline. June 30th 2024. Overview. The John Locke Essay Competition inspires philosophical thinkers from across the globe to share their ideas and openly challenge controversial topics. By encouraging students to craft essays that express their independent thoughts, the depth of their academic inquiry and exploration, and ...
John Locke Global Essay Competition (Standard Prize & Junior Prize
The Institute awards two separate prizes: For the standard prize a prize is awarded for the best essay in each category. For the Junior Prize there is only one winner. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior Prize, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute program ...
Complete Guide To John Locke Essay Competition 2024
With approximately 19,000 entries in total, the John Locke Essay Competition attracts a pool of excellent participants from around the world. Each year, a select few—typically 24-25 individuals—are awarded prizes. For more context, in 2021, the competition received 4,000 submissions, yet only 24 prizes were awarded, indicating a marked ...
Global Essay Competition 2021- John Locke Institute
Competitions. Deadline June 30, 2021. Region Online. Subscribe. Submissions are now open for 2021 Global Essay Competition organised by The John Locke Institute! Apply now! The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear ...
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Winner of the 2020 Junior Prize | 7.5 min read. Share. Today, we produce unfathomable amounts of data, leading the OECD to call data a "key pillar of 21st-century growth."[1] Legislators, politicians and the popular press have increasingly called for ownership of data.[2] Ownership is generally defined as "full and complete control with ...
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Indigo Research - 1:1 Mentorship From Top Professors. Essay Review
John Locke Essay Competition Prep
The John Locke Essay Competition Prep course has 8 different sections: philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology, law and junior prize tailored to student's needs. Each session will assist students with writing an essay in response to one question in the list provided by the Institute. The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics of ...
John Locke Institute 2023 Global Essay Prize
John Locke Institute 2023 Global Essay Prize. This essay competition is open to students from around the world and this year saw 19,000 candidates across seven categories - a great majority of submissions were of a very high standard but only the very best were shortlisted. Winners and runners up will be announced from those shortlisted at ...
Graders Needed for Essay Competition
The John Locke Institute is seeking final-year undergraduate and graduate students who might be interested in becoming graders of our Essay Competition for appropriate remuneration. The globally renowned John Locke Institute annual essay competition covers topics in the categories of Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Law, Theology, and Psychology. Free to enter, the competition ...
Westminster School pupil award-winning essay
The John Locke Institute's annual, global essay competition invites young scholars to show their depth of knowledge and persuasiveness of writing across seven different subjects: philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology and law, and gives a chance for work to be read and assessed by experts from the University of Oxford ...
Winner of The John Locke Essay Competition
This year's John Locke Essay Competition was attended by 2740 contestants from 80 countries around the world. Contestants had to submit their essays on different prompts related to their choice by the 15th of July, 2020. Samik wrote his essay in the Politics category based on the prompt: "American citizens give away more than $300 billion ...
PDF Submission for the John Locke Institute 2020 Essay Competition
measure the strength of a state: its age, its recent history of stability, the security of its citizens, the level of ... John Locke 2020 Essay Competition - History Wong Yi Hao | Singapore
Expert Guide to the John Locke Essay Competition Philosophy Questions
Published on 2024-03-26. The recently unveiled philosophy questions for the 2024 John Locke Essay Competition have sparked interest among participants. In this detailed guide, we aim to dissect these questions, analyze recurring themes, and provide valuable advice to enhance your essay-writing skills. Join us as we explore the John Locke Essay ...
How was the 2023 John Locke essay competition? : r/6thForm
A place for sixth formers to speak to others about work, A-levels, results, problems in education and general sixth form life, as well as university applications and UCAS. How was the 2023 John Locke essay competition? Hey guys, The 2023 cycle of the John Locke essay competition just ended. For those who've participated, how did you do?

Upcoming Summer 2024 Application Deadline is May 12, 2024.

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Graders Needed for Essay Competition

An examination of modern faith and our human nature to want to look beyond scientific fact has earned a Westminster pupil a podium place in a prestigious global essay competition

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1. John Locke Essay Competition Philosophy Questions 2024

2. Some General Tips for Students to Keep in Mind While Writing Their Essay

3. Aralia’s John Locke Competition Prep

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