Irish and International Young Philosopher Awards Festival 2023

The Runner-Up for the Grand Prize of the 2023 Irish Young Philosopher Awards

Myles Stomaite 

Is Hostile Architecture Ethical?  

3rd Year, Cork Educate Together 

  

5th and 6th Class Primary 

Winner

Stanley Cox 
Why can't I have Snapchat, Dad?
6th Class, Glebe NS Wicklow. 

Runner-up

Class 6B Bunscoil na Cathrach, Cahir, Co. Tipperary.
Is Beauty really in the Eye of the Beholder? 

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First and Second Year (Second Level)

Winner

Shahed Al Moubayed and Josie Flanagan  
An bhfuil cead agam dul go dtí an leithreas?  
An exploration of freedom in education in Ireland. 
2nd Year, St Brendan's Community School, Birr, Co. Offaly 

Equal Runners-up

Sadhbh Walsh O' Grady  
Could anarchism be the way forward? 
2nd Year, Scoil Pól, Kilfinane, Limerick 

and  

Arsenii Hondo 
What makes a Person’s Nationality? 
2nd Year, Temple Carrig, Greystones  

Highly Commended

Sofia Irfan 
What is friendship? 
2nd Year, Sandymount Park ETSS 

Max Cronin  
Can We Be Truly Happy Without Sadness? 
2nd Year, Goatstown Secondary School Educate Together 

Naoise Carey 
Storytelling with Schopenhauer 
2nd year, Scoil pól, Kilfinane 

Kim Kenna 
Am I nature or nurture? 
2nd Year, Temple Carrig Greystones 

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3rd and 4th Year (Second Level)

Winner

Livia Ceban 
Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing? 
TY, St. Louis High School 

Equal Runners-Up

Rebecca Walsh 
Is the essence of a thing a product of my mind, or does it have a mind-independent reality of its own? 
Transition Year at Coláiste na Coiribe  

and 

Sarah Kirwan 
Is knowledge a result of learning or experience? 
4th Year, Loreto College Mullingar  

Highly Commended

Amanda Beide 
Do Our Emotions Influence the Life we Live? 
3rd Year, Scoil Pól, Kilfinane 

Joshua King  
Submission Title: Memento Morrie: A Conversation about Death and Society 
3rd Year, St. Mary's College, Dundalk 

Alannah Magan 
Is Love Real? 
TY, St Marys High School, Midelton, Co.Cork  

Saoirse Light 
How much of a person’s soul is composed of those of others? 
3rd Year, Scoil Pól 

Lily Crawford 
Is the death penalty morally right or wrong? 
TY, Newbridge College 

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Fifth and Sixth Year (Senior Level) 

Winner

Yilong She 
What Makes a Human… Human? 
5th Year St. Columba’s College, D16 

Runner-up

Uinsínn Mac Cárthaigh 
Does Effective Altruism Actually Exist? 
6th Year, Scoil Pól, Kilfinnane 

Highly commended

Mary Rose McCathy 
What is Religions Role in Society? 
5th Year, Colaiste Ide Daingean Ui Chuis 

Clemence De Villa Castillo 
Does Belonging to a Group Establish or Alter Individual Identity 
5th Year, Cork Educate Together  

Connall Keane  
What does it mean to belong to a gender? 
5th Year, Gonzaga College 

Rafik Pedroni 
Could you be Evil if you lack free will? 
5th Year, Educate Together  

Junja Lia 
Can virtual reality cause an identify crisis? 
6th Year, The Institute of Education Dublin 

  

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Individual Prize

Winner

Myles Stomaite 
Is Hostile Architecture Ethical?  
3rd Year, Cork Educate Together 

Runner-Up

Kaitlin Gardiner  
Should Euthanasia be Legal? 
1st Year, Cork Educate Together  

Highly commended

Isabelle McGowan 
Why do we love? 
3rd Year, Temple Carrig Greystones 

Sophie Donovan 
Could the World make in Progress if Society did not Exist? 
TY, St Mary’s High School, Cork 

TJ Hannify 
Does Power Always Corrupt? 
TY, Gonzaga College 

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Small Group Prize

Winner

Sasha Sweeney, Ella Hanlon, Isabelle McGowan, Charlotte O’ Mahony and Martha O'Herhily 
(opens in a new window)Do we still need Women’s Rights awareness campaigns? 
3rd Year, Temple Carrig School  

Runner-Up 

Lauren Coughlan and Vivienne Sonnenberg 
Should Abortion be Legal? 
3rd Year, Cork Educate Together Secondary School 

Highly Commended

Amy Lamont, Aoife Mulligan
Does History End? 
2nd Year, Naas Community College 

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Class Prize

Winner 

Class 5A, St. Kilian's Deustche Schule Dublin 
How do our belongings define our belonging? 

The Runner-Up

5th Class, Kilcolgan Educate Together N.S, Kilcornan, Clarinbridge, Co. Galway 
Who Am I? 

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Philosophy For Our Time Prize

Winner

Seán Radcliffe  
Has Plato’s allegory of the cave been warning us of social media for 2500 years? 
5th Year, Gonzaga College, Co. Dublin  

Equal Runners-Up

Emily Gaines 
Do the Media Elite Exploit the Concept of Intersubjectivity to fulfil their Agenda? 
5th Year, Temple Carrig Greystones 

and 

Sebastian Licciardi 
Do Philosophers Belong in Modern Society 
1st Year, Sandymount Park Educate Together 

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Most Innovative Philosophy Project  

Winner 

Louis Tempany 
Philosophy of Art 
TY, Gonzaga College 

Runner-Up 

Bader Sadaqah, Lucas Carvalho de Medeiros, Long Hai Hoang, Queena Huang 
Are Video Names Art? 
4th Year, Cork ET  

A Special congratulations to all those who took part in the 2023 Irish Young Philosopher Awards. Warmest congratulations to all those finalists as well as awardees in the Irish Young Philosopher Awards 2022. Your ideas, creativity and philosophical thinking have been an inspiration and the judges this year were incredibly impressed. We hope we will see many of you back here next year and entering new and exciting projects in the future.  

International Grand Prize

Overall Winner of the International Grand Prize 

Lea Alin Telci, A Kabbalist’s Otherness, 16 Years old, Hisar School, Istanbul, Turkey

Runner-up

Izmir Tevfik Fikret High School, Gender and Belonging, Turkey

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10-11 Years

Winner

Hasbi Eren ODABAŞ, Edip Rahmi ŞİMŞEK, Muhammed Emre ATİLA, ÖZEL NUN ORTAOKULU, Ali Osman SÜRMEN, Zeyneb Ravza DEMİRCİ, Fatma Şeyma KEFLİOĞLU, Mahinur Azra AK, ÖZEL NUN ORTAOKULU School

Earthquake of Belonging: Migration, 11 years old, Turkey

Runner up

Tess Aherne, Belonging, Ireland

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12 - 13 Years

Winner

Alp Ata Ayalp, Our Selfishness Reasoning, Turkey

Runner up

Jerry Kyriakopoulos, Belonging, Greece

Highly Commended

Dona Alexandra, How does Belonging Affect your Identity?, Romania

Almila Pınarbaşı, Does Belonging Reflect on a Person’s Personality and Essence?, Ankara, Turkey

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14 - 15 Years:

Joint Winners

Camila Lofredo, Ana Karina Solorio, Fernanda Garcia, Alexandra Gabriela Ruiz, Alexa Zapata, Fatima Barrera, Do we Truly Belong to Something or Somewhere, or Do We Just Have the Idea That We Do?, Colegio Williams, Mexico City, Mexico

and

Yevheniia Sierova, Can You Ever Truly Belong to More Than One Country?, Ukraine and Ireland 

Joint Runners-Up

Işıl Birer, The Whirlpool of Belonging, Middle East Technical University Development Foundation High School, Ankara, Turkey

and

Beray Umur Unlu, Kerem Arda Bayar, Simal Eylul Oktay, Deniz Akbayrak, Immigration and Belonging: Gaining Identity in a Changing World,  Antalya, Turkey

Highly Commended

Damla Kantaş, Balance, Middle East Technical University Development Foundation High School" Ankara, Turkey

Mehmet Ali Alp ARIKAN, How a sense of belonging is being formed, Middle East Technical University Development Foundation High School Ankara, Turkey

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16-17 Years

Winner

Lea Alin Telci, A Kabbalist’s Otherness, Hisar School, Istanbul, Turkey

Runner-up

Izmir Tevfik Fikret High School, Gender and Belonging, Turkey

Highly Commended

Maya Gedik, Can anyone truly belong anywhere?, Sainte Pulchérie French High School, Istanbul, Turkey

Şahpar Nil Özer, Güler Ayçiçek, Do we Belong to Ourselves?, American Collegiate Institute, Izmir, Turkey

Deniz Karlıdağ, Is Belonging Always Positive?, Izmir Bilfen High School, Turkey

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Most Innovative Philosophy

Winner

TFL Philosophy Club (Ankara Özel Tevfik Fikret Lisesi, Türkiye), From Nowhere to Nowhere, Turkey

Runner-Up

Umay Gaya AYAN, Is it Harder to Be Alone in the Crowd or Pretend to Belong in the Crowd in which you Don’t Belong? TED Ankara College Foundation High School, Ankara, Turkey

Highly Commended

Su Ferik, Loneliness and Belonging, Hisar School, Istanbul, Turkey

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Young Plato Award 

This award is named in recognition of the film Young Plato directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin, which supports the best multi-media philosophy project.  

Winner

Begüm Mangır, İdil Şentürk, Arzum İdil Demetoğlu, Adapt, "Middle East Technical University Development Foundation High School" in Ankara, Turkey

Runner-Up

Holy Cross Boys Primary School, Who belongs? Othering and belonging, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Congratulations to all the awardees and participants in the International Young Philosopher Awards.