GAP-Essay Award 2024

31 October 2024

Each year, the German Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP) and the philosophical journal Grazer Philosophische Studien award the GAP Essay Award to undergraduate and graduate philosophy students.

Each year, the German Society for Analytic Philosophy (GAP) and the philosophical journal Grazer Philosophische Studien award the GAP Essay Award to undergraduate and graduate philosophy students. The essay question for 2024 is:

Can we be responsible for what is not up to us?

The essay must address the question, but it need not have that title. Up to three awards will be awarded: 1st place 750 EUR, 2nd place 500 EUR, 3rd place 250 EUR (in the case of unranked entries, the prize money is 500 EUR). The winning essays will be published in Grazer Philosophische Studien. Thus, they have to be suitable for publication in a philosophical journal. We expect a scholarly argumentative text that is closely linked to a debate/to research literature. Co-authorship is possible, but all authors must fulfil the conditions of participation and have to share the prize. Multiple submissions are not permitted.

Eligible for the GAP Essay Award is anyone who is either enrolled in a German-speaking university at the end of the deadline, or who has completed a Bachelor's or Master's degree at a German-speaking university in the year before the deadline. The restriction to German-speaking universities does not apply to GAP members. Excluded from participation is anyone who has been in a philosophical doctoral program for more than one year or who has already completed a philosophical doctorate at the end of the deadline.

Proof of eligibility is provided by a certificate of study or a diploma (in electronic form). Every university with German as an official university language is considered as German-speaking. If it is not clear to you that you are eligible, please send an email to the address below before sending in an essay.

The deadline for essays is October 31, 2024. All essays must address the above question, be written in either German or English and be submitted as a PDF document. They may in no case exceed 3.000 words (including headings and footnotes but excluding references). Footnotes should be used sparingly; references must be included in the main text (author, year, page number) and listed with full bibliographical details alphabetically at the end of the essay in a references section.

Every submission must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet containing the number of words (including headings and footnotes, but excluding references), your name, your course of studies and the semester you are currently in, your university, your private mail and email address and the date of submission; a certificate of study or a final degree certificate is also required. The essay itself need to be anonymized; it must not on any page contain hints about its author. Please send your submissions to: essaypreis"AT"gap-im-netz.de 

Grazer Philosophische Studien is an international journal for analytic philosophy established in 1975 that publishes scholarly papers in both German and English.