Examines a conflict found in the writings of Aristotle and Machiavelli considering steps towards a life of virtue and prominence. Aristotle puts value on happiness and welfare en route to a good life whereas Machiavelli is focused on the ability to use both good and bad action to control a situation. The author concludes balance of these qualities, a virtuous mean, is the most beneficial option, a notion that Machiavelli not directly but philosophically challenges.

A questioning of the proficiency of the American education system judged by preparedness of students for further education written by a junior in an American High School. He hypothesizes that knowledge of ethics can produce preparedness and is missing from American education system and needs to be utilized.

Technological advance like Google Glass are innovative, yet isolating. Though features of such a new technology can help shape and make lives easier, they disconnect our natural human behaviors. The immediacy of technology may cause us to lose our abilities to be patient, rationalize, and allow for error, which are all natural and important parts of building personality and psyche development.

The author examines one of the most important questions in philosophy as she is asked “What is an identity?” and “What is the self?” She analyzes and debunks this question through a dialect between her and multiple “philosophers”.

A review of the book A Sneetch is a Sneetch by Thomas Wartenberg. The book provides insight to deeper philosophical questions through the critical reading of children’s stories. The review provokes philosophy teachers to implicate this book and its methods into young-adult philosophical studies.

In this PLATO winning essay, Jared Corbet discusses the strength of the hard determinism argument against the notion of free will through historical lenses and comparisons to alternative theories such as libertarianism and compatibilism. Corbet in the end finds hard determinism to be the most logical explanation.

In this runner-up PLATO contest essay, Sydney To proposes that humans have free will due to human’s unique ability of self-ownership. As long as we are not inappropriately influenced, we can choose, progress, or influence ourselves appropriately. She cites our ability of self-control and self-revision as a representation of free will, which is a sufficient amount to make life meaningful.

Third place PLATO contest winner James Drueckhammer argues for the existence of libertarian free will by way of describing and dissecting Aristotle’s theory of the agent-causal theory against its most popular refutation. In the end to the author gives libertarian free will prominence and life.