Give the John Locke Essay Competition a try!

Today, I will be posting about the John Locke Essay Competition, which many of you are interested in.

Why is the John Locke Essay Competition significant among writing competitions?

As I’ve explained before, writing competitions play a crucial role. From the perspective of universities, there is often doubt about whether a student can keep up with courses or perform well at their institution. While applicants submit their English GPA scores and standardized test results, participating in a writing competition can dispel these doubts by showcasing the student's English proficiency.

Among the many writing competitions, the John Locke Essay Competition stands out as one that fulfills this role.

Let’s explore what the John Locke Competition is, how to prepare for it, and the topics for 2024.

This competition is organized by the John Locke Institute. John Locke, known as the father of liberalism, was a philosopher and thinker. Because of his influence, the institute was established to offer ideological and philosophical guidance.

Essays submitted to the John Locke competition are evaluated by professors from Oxford or Princeton, which suggests that earning recognition in this competition can be acknowledged by prestigious universities.

The competition requires participants to submit their essays online. In the first round, the essays are selected, followed by another review in the second round, where the number of essays is narrowed down further until the shortlist announcement. Typically, shortlisted applicants are notified via email, and being shortlisted means an invitation to Oxford.

For invited students, an academic conference is held where professors or academic figures from institutions like Cambridge or Oxford give lectures or seminars.

Even if you do not win, attending the seminars of renowned scholars as a high school student is an invaluable experience.

The opportunities and experiences provided in the unique atmosphere of the UK are themselves incredibly meaningful. Therefore, if you are invited, I personally recommend attending.

Competition Categories

The essay topics are divided into seven categories:

• Philosophy

• Politics

• Economics

• Psychology

• History

• Law

• Theology

Each category selects 3-4 participants, and considering that only 3-4 essays were chosen from 19,000 submissions last year, it is highly competitive.

Philosophy Prompt

The topics for philosophy are:

Q1) Do we have good reasons to trust our moral intuitions?

Q2) Do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sports that exclude boys?

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

These prompts pose difficult and deeply philosophical questions.

Politics Prompt

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

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

Q3) When does compliance become complicity?

Let me explain how to approach the John Locke essay on a political topic.

For example, to approach the prompt “Is there such a thing as too much democracy?” let's look at Switzerland.

Switzerland delegates many decision-making processes to its voting citizens. In most democratic countries, public opinion plays a role, but Switzerland emphasizes it even more, especially in policy decisions. For instance, in 2009, there was a vote on whether to allow the construction of minarets on Islamic mosques in Switzerland. The result was a vote against the construction of minarets, which created an ironic situation. While the public's opinion was respected, the result led to religious discrimination against minorities. A similar case occurred in 2014 when a referendum passed laws limiting immigration, raising several issues.

When approaching the “too much democracy” prompt, you must research various historical facts and conduct extensive analysis. This is necessary because, based on the research, you must develop your essay.

Another way to approach this is through the prompt, "When does compliance become complicity?" An example to use could be the Apartheid policy of racial segregation in South Africa. Apartheid, which lasted nearly 100 years, led to outrageous laws that enforced segregation, such as prohibiting black people from living in major cities, segregating restrooms by race, and even banning interracial relationships. Writing an essay based on this prompt requires deep study and research, making the John Locke Essay Competition much more than a simple writing competition.

Economics Prompt

Q1) What is the optimal population of the world?

Q2) Accurate news reporting is a public good. Should news organizations be publicly funded?

Q3) Does a successful businessperson benefit others when making or spending money, or both, or neither?

Here is a brief explanation of how to approach an essay for the economics category.

For Q1, the “optimal population” requires clear standards, and you need to determine which metric to use, such as GDP, GNI, national happiness indexes, or biological factors.

For Q2, it’s important to define what constitutes “accurate news” and explore the potential issues with publicly funded news organizations. One challenge is that the political stance of the news may change with every shift in government.

Q3 also demands careful consideration of the differences in benefits between developed and developing countries. Beyond each nation's economic output, what truly separates them is their ability to protect what they can achieve within their institutional frameworks.

History Prompt

Q1) Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the late 18th century, and why did that change?

Q2) Has music ever significantly altered the course of history?

Q3) Why do civilizations collapse, and is ours at risk?

Law Prompt

Q1) When should businesses be allowed to refuse to engage with someone because of something they have publicly said?

Q2) Over the past five years, the British police have arrested thousands of people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3) Your parents say that bedtime is 11 pm. But if they do not punish you for staying up past 11, is it really your bedtime?

Psychology Prompt

Q1) Research by four British universities has found that for every 16-point increase in IQ, a man's likelihood of marriage increases by 35%, but for women, it decreases by 40%. Why is this?

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

Q3) What is the difference between mental illness and personality flaws?

Theology Prompt

Q1) "I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual." What does someone mean by "spiritual" in this context?

Q2) If a god causes natural harm, is it reasonable to thank god for protection from it?

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

The above topics were for the high school division. As you can see, the prompts for the John Locke competition are very profound and difficult.

The John Locke competition fundamentally requires research. It is a competition with many positive attributes for writing, and it’s an excellent way to fully alleviate any doubts about the student’s English abilities. The key difference between the John Locke competition and others like Scholastic or Young Arts is the emphasis on research.

While incorporating research into writing can be challenging, it also demonstrates the student's intellectual curiosity, making it a powerful tool.

The image above shows a sample writing submission from one of our students who won in the economics category of the John Locke competition. As you can see, it includes multiple graphs and numerous references at the end. The John Locke Essay Competition, which requires in-depth research, is definitely worth trying. I strongly recommend participating.

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Today, I’ve discussed the highly competitive John Locke Essay Competition. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at A-One Institute.

Thank you.