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Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
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Philosophical about essay competition victory
Hilary Hawthorne (Lower Sixth) enjoyed success in a prestigious essay competition with a thought-provoking work on Covid-19.
She won the philosophy section of the New College of the Humanities essay competition with her response to the question ‘How should we respond to the fact that misinformation can be harmful while recognising the value of free expression?’
Hilary based her investigation around Covid-19 and looked into how misinformation around the virus, via sources such as social media, could be combatted without compromising on the right to free speech.
“I found it really interesting because although I knew about misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories, I didn’t really know about them in-depth so I started by listening to some podcasts and reading some articles on Covid and misinformation,” she said.
I’ve always liked looking at the big questions. Questioning everything around you is the most fundamental thing you can do.
“The initial solution would be to completely silence people, but then you get problems with aligning it politically and I looked at Donald Trump as an example of that.
“Looking at this question philosophically was interesting. You cannot compromise freedom of expression because that’s important. “As such, my solution was to consider having an independent fact-checking organisation that could flag misinformation rather than categorically removing it.”
Hilary, who hopes to study classics and philosophy at university, was delighted to win the competition, which received more than 6,000 entries across all categories.
She added: “I’ve always liked looking at the big questions. Questioning everything around you is the most fundamental thing you can do.”
Up for the Ethics Cup
Perse students were in a philosophical mood after taking part in the Ethics Cup debating competition.
A team of nine Lower Sixth philosophy and religious studies students represented the school in the regional round of the illustrious competition at King’s College London. In the group stage, they lost narrowly to reigning national champions Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School before winning their second match against Beths Grammar School.
However, the team were unable to make it through to the knockout round despite a fine display of debating on topics ranging from male circumcision to anti-natalism – a philosophical position that opposes giving birth.
