Australasian Association of Philosophy

Dr Caroline West was announced as the winner of the 2010 AAP Media prize for a piece "Work four hours, then rest" which appeared as the lead opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald on 4 August 2009, and also in the Brisbane Courier-Mail and National Times. It led to more than 11 follow-up radio interviews. including ABC702 Sydney (Breakfast Program with Adam Spencer); ABC Newcastle (Drive program); ABC Tasmania; and ABC Melbourne (Drive Program). The piece can be accessed here.

Caroline also delivered a public lecture at the 2009 Sydney Writers Festival, which was recorded and broadcast on ABC Radio National, The Philosopher's Zone, as "The Happiness Machine" on 30 May, 2009. The podcast is available here.

In addition, Caroline published 2 further opinion pieces in 2009:
"Which Kind Of Happiness To Pursue", Sydney Morning Herald, May 22, 2009

"Learning how to use leisure well", Sydney Morning Herald, December 26, 2009

Caroline West is a senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Sydney.

recipients in previous years>>

AAP Media Prize

Entries/nominations for piece(s) published in 2009 must be received by the Executive Officer no later than 30th March 2010. Entries/nominations for the Media Prize may come from the author or from others. more>>

The AAP Media Prize is sponsored by Taylor and Francis, the publisher of the AAP's journal the Australasian Journal of Philosophy.

Description and Main Criterion

The Australasian Association of Philosophy (AAP) offers an annual prize of $500 for the best philosophical piece(s) published by a professional philosopher* in the popular media in Australasia during the previous calendar year. First awarded in 1999, the main criterion for the award of the prize is the ability of the piece(s) to engage the interest of the general public in philosophy or some philosophical issue. Consideration is also given to the quality of the philosophical discussion and to the size of the audience reached.

*“Professional philosopher” includes postgraduates and also retired academic philosophers. It does not include those whose principal job is in the media; there is a separate prize for such persons. more>>

Conditions

Entries may be submitted in either hard or electronic copy:

In both cases evidence must be provided of the original place of publication and entries must be accompanied by full publication details (date, place, etc).
If evidence of the original place of publication cannot be provided in electronic copy, then a hard copy of the entries should be provided.
If entries are supplied in hard copy, then three copies (3) of the entry should be submitted.
Entries consisting of a lengthy portfolio of items should submit the best one or two and list the remainder.

No person may win the prize more than once.

Please address entries to AAP 2008 Media Prize and submit either by email or by post to GPO BOX 1978, Hobart, 7001, Australia.

Further contact details >>

Recipients of the AAP Media Prize

2009 - The 2009 AAP Media Prize was awarded to Associate Professor John Armstrong, School of Philosophy, Anthropology and Social Inquiry, University of Melbourne and Philosopher in Residence at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, for a series of articles that appeared in The Age and the Australian on what is art and the function of the humanities. Articles nominated include:

'The line of ugliness', The Age, January 26, 2008.
link to the article
'In a liberal democracy, ideals inspire', The Australian, October 10, 2008.
link to the article
'Decline Reflects Poorly on Arts', The Australian, November 05, 2008
link to the article

2008 - The 2008 AAP Media Prize was awarded to Dr Geoffrey Levey, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of New South Wales, for his essay 'A healthy dose of multiculturalism', published in Australian Financial Review, 27 April 2007.

2007 - The 2007 AAP Media Prize was awarded to Dr Jeremy Moss for a series of columns, 'The Ethicist', which appeared in The Sunday Age in 2006. 'The Ethicist' presents philosophical thinking to a wide audience on a regular basis, discussing issues of the day, with an explicitly philosophical focus. Moss has also written a number of articles on ethics in education for teachers magazines aimed at Victorian secondary schools.

2006 - Simon Clarke from the University of Canterbury for a series of newspaper columns entitled 'Clear Thinking' that appeared in the Christchurch Press.

2005 - Kim Atkins for her article 'Matters of personal preference', The Australian Financial Review.

2004 - Stan Van Hooft for his Late Night Live interview with Phillip Adams on Socratic Dialogue. Listen to, or view the transcript, of some of Stan's more recent radio interviews on What is Morality? and Cosmopolitanism. Both interviews took place on Alan Saunders' ABC Radio National Program, The Philosophers Zone.

2003 - Tim Dare

2002 - John Sutton for his weekly radio program Ghost in the Machine. John has also been interviewed on various topics, including Dreams on ABC Radio National Program Life Matters and Animal Spirits: The Mind in History on ABC Radio National Program All in the Mind.

2001 - not awarded

2000 - Tamas Pataki for his article 'Narcissism Incarnate', The Australian's Review of Books, August 1999.

1999 - Chandran Kukathas for his lecture, 'Tolerating the Intolerable', delivered at the Senate Department's Occasional Lecture Series on 24th June 1998 in Parliament House. The lecture was broadcast on ABC Radio National program Life Matters - view program details here, and is published in Papers on Parliament, 1999.