University of Lincoln Philosophy Competition 2018

What is Love?

Write a philosophical essay on the nature of love and win £100 for you and £100 for your school.

The University of Lincoln’s Philosophy Competition is the first of its kind. It is an international writing competition, managed by University of Lincoln and open to anyone. It offers young people, aged 18 and under, and adults, aged over 18, the opportunity to undertake a piece of work tackling one of the most important philosophical questions which human beings have ever contemplated – what is love?.

Philosophy literally means the "love of wisdom. It is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument, and systematic presentation and this competition aims to encourage those taking part to apply philosophical method to this question. The competition aims to build confidence, develop writing skills, support creativity and encourage critical thinking.

All entrants receive a Certificate of Participation and one Winner from both the Adult and Young Persons categories will receive £100 each. The young winner will also be awarded £100 for their school library. Two runners-up, one in each category, will receive £50 each.

Essays should be no more than 1,500 words in length. Entries should be submitted via email to: competitions@lincoln.ac.uk no later than midnight on 23 March 2018.

University of Lincoln Philosophy Competition Terms & Conditions

  1. The competition details form part of these terms and conditions.
  2. Entries that are incomplete, illegible or indecipherable will not be valid and deemed void.
  3. All entries must be made directly by, and be the sole work of, the person entering the competition.
  4. No responsibility can be accepted for entries lost, damaged or delayed in the post, or due to computer error in transit.
  5. The prizes are as stated, are not transferable to another individual and no cash or other alternatives will be offered.
  6. The University of Lincoln reserves the right to amend or alter the terms of competitions at any time and reject entries from entrants not entering into the spirit of the competition.
  7. In the event of a prize being unavailable, the promoter reserves the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or greater value.
  8. The winner(s) agree(s) to the use of their name, photograph and disclosure of county of residence and will co-operate with any other reasonable requests by the University of Lincoln relating to any post-winning publicity.
  9. The winner shall be the best essay in the opinion of the judges.
  10. Reasonable efforts will be made to contact the winner(s). If the winner(s) cannot be contacted, or are unable to comply with these terms and conditions, the University of Lincoln reserves the right to offer the prize to the runner(s)-up selected by the same judges.
  11. Confirmation of the prize will be made in writing to the winner(s).
  12. Failure to respond and/or provide an address for delivery, or failure to meet the eligibility requirements may result in forfeiture of the prize.
  13. The decision of the judges is final based on the criteria set out in the promotion and no correspondence will be entered into over this decision.
  14. The competition may be modified or withdrawn at any time.
  15. The University of Lincoln is the competition organiser and supplying the prizes.
  16. The Promoter is the University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS.
  17. In the event of a discrepancy between these terms and conditions and the details in the promotional material (or any other terms and conditions provided/referred to at the time of entry), the details of the promotional material (and any other terms and conditions provided/referred to at the time of entry) shall prevail.
  18. A list of winners will be available by writing to the Promoter's address no earlier than six weeks, unless otherwise stated, after the close of the competition. Only the surname and county of the winners will be disclosed.

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