Upper Sixth student’s essay awarded top prize in Edgar Jones Philosophy Essay Competition

Millfield Upper Sixth student Strabo Newman has been awarded the top prize in the Edgar Jones Philosophy Essay competition run by St Peter’s College, Oxford.

This highly prestigious competition draws a large number of entries, with the aim of the prizes being to provide for students in Year 12 or the Lower 6th an opportunity to write about a philosophical issue and enable them to develop their abilities for independent research and thought. It is also a useful preparation exercise for those who wish to apply for an undergraduate course with Philosophy as an element.

Strabo won with his essay titled ‘What are facts’. Within his essay he argued that not only do facts exist, but further they play the role of truth makers. To achieve this, he drew upon the world of D.M Armstrong and combined with Aristotle’s correspondence theory provided a valid argument for his proposition.

See a short extract from his essay below:

“Although Arianna Betti may persuasively argue in her book “Against Facts” (2015) that “there is no hope to pull an ontological rabbit out of a linguistic hat.”5 this essay argues that in this post-fact age, the existence of facts must be affirmed, and their definition made clear.

Armstrong’s abductive (argument of the best explanation) truth-maker argument does exactly this. He argues that facts are the most likely candidates for the role of truth-makers, and therefore should be accepted.”

Upper Sixth student Strabo also recently spoke on local BBC Somerset radio alongside Millfield Headmaster Gavin Horgan, discussing his how his dyslexia affects his learning and how Millfield helps to support his academic endeavours.