Competitions

The Bernard Williams Essay Prize | 2024 

The Bernard Williams Essay Prize in 2024 attracted a substantial number of entries responding to the question, "Is AI a Threat to Human Creativity?" After careful consideration, three finalists—Xiaolan Deng (Christ Church), Madoc Wade (Wadham College), and Johann (Konrad) Wefing (St Catherine's College)—were invited to Oxford to present and defend their essays on Wednesday, 4 December 2024. All three students delivered excellent presentations. Professor John Tasioulas, Dr Caroline Green, and Professor Ignacio Cofone convened at the end to decide who should receive the top prize.

The £500 prize was awarded to Xiaolan Deng, with Madoc Wade and Johann Wefing as proximi accessit, each receiving £250. Patricia Williams joined us at the seminar and kindly presented the finalists with their well-earned prizes. The winner also received a personal gift from Patricia: a copy of Bernard Williams' Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, Routledge Classics (2011).

On the day of the seminar, the Director tweeted: "What an amazing performance by our three @EthicsInAI Bernard Williams Essay Prize finalists, producing talks that academics would be proud of. Congratulations to our winner, Xiaolan Deng, and the two runners-up, Johann Wefing and Madoc Wade. Thanks again to the great Patricia Williams."
 

Finalists

Read the finalists essays here