School Student Prize 2026: Prizewinners
The BPA School Student Prizes were established in 2026 to recognise and promote collaboration between the BPA, teachers of philosophy in schools, and their students. Here are the winning entries!
First Prize: C. Lyttleton
Philosophy matters to me because, in a society increasingly reliant on outsourcing ideas, it enables me to think critically and independently, and to challenge both dominant voices and my own preconceptions. In making an argument, you must first understand someone else’s, necessitating intellectual empathy. In this way, philosophy teaches more than just content. It teaches me mindful listening, thoughtful collaboration and the value of respectful disagreement, guiding my thoughts, my words and my actions.
Second Prize: M. Suguru
Philosophy matters to me because it transforms the way I see the world. I have always been curious, constantly questioning, constantly searching for understanding. I chose to study philosophy hoping for clear answers, but I discovered something more valuable: better questions. Philosophy challenges assumptions, pushes us beyond convention, and connects to everything from politics to environmental issues. Across past, present, and future generations, philosophy continues to shape how we think and live.
Third Prize: S. Fitton
Philosophy matters to me because it taught me what the education system didn’t – how to think. My experience taught to memorise and repeat ideas, never to question them. Today information is fed through social media, meaning my ability to criticise is crucial. Philosophy drives the urge to pause and simply state “hold on”.
Philosophy is not about questioning the existence of the table I am writing this on, but my ability to question such existence.
Honourable Mentions
T. Besser: Philosophy matters to me because it is the subject that encompasses all of knowledge, discovery, wisdom, reasoning, and longing for answers. It is in the refusal to sit in silence and never dare question the fundamentals of our existence and reality. We, innately as humans, wish to question and ponder what is unknown, and what may never be known, to reach some form of enlightenment, understanding, and solace. Philosophy is the hope of reaching that.
C. Varah: Philosophy matters to me because it disciplines my desire for truth and refuses to let me settle for easy answers. It compels me to examine justice, suffering, and belief with intellectual honesty, shaping not only what I think but how I live. In wrestling with arguments about meaning and morality, I learn to test conviction through reason and pursue truth with courage, striving to align principle with action.
V. Tyjewski: Philosophy matters to be because it pushes us to confront life’s biggest questions. It reminds us that life is brief, and staying trapped in anxiety or looping thoughts keeps us from experiencing its depth. By tracing centuries of human questions, philosophy shows that others have wrestled with the same uncertainties. That shared search offers perspective, showing that maybe humans have an underlying need to know and understand the world we live in and its possibilities.
I. Checketts: Philosophy matters to me because it protects my ability to think independently, which modern AI systems are compressing more and more. AI algorithms adjust what we see and think. However, philosophy allows us space for contemplation and free thought, giving us room to question ideas rather than accept them automatically, which could have disastrous repercussions. Without philosophy, we risk trading human contemplation for motorised convenience.
D. Rose: Philosophy Matters because the emergence of the Neo-liberal world order and modern technologies has fragmented our society. Tech oligarchs have numbed us to our oppression by exploiting our neurochemistry thus eroding our communities and denying our physical and psychological needs. Philosophy not only allows us to radically question the systems in place. It also enables a society that consciously shapes, rather than passively inherits, its future.
