Recipients of the Dr. Brian M. Keenan Prize

  Chance Taylor is a current student at the University of Winnipeg, aiming for a four-year degree in Philosophy. He is interested in moral and political philosophy, aesthetics, and the question of value. Outside of philosophy he has made experimental films for underground film festivals, and is interested in art, literature, and law, among other subjects. He hopes to continue his education after completing his undergraduate degree. The Children of Kant and Hegel: The Encyclopaedia Logic and Liberalism Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore Hegel’s thought, as explicated in The Encyclopaedia Logic, and its implications for modern liberalism. It is my contention that this formulation of liberalism has withstood two similar attacks, first in the form of Hegel’s reaction against Kant, and, in the 20th century, the communitarian critique of Rawls’ A Theory of Justice. Taking a queue from Hegel, the paper will assume a triadic structure wherein I will spend time exploring bot...

Greg Furmaniuk is in the fourth and final year of his Honours Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Winnipeg. His focus for the time being includes critical theory, virtue ethics, interpreting the world and maybe trying to change it. After completing his undergraduate degree, Greg intends to apply for law school and / or graduate programs in political theory. Download his winning paper Prometheus and the Owl of Minerva and comment on it below. Prometheus and the Owl of Minerva Abstract : This essay is an investigation into the moral and political theories of Alasdair MacIntyre and Charles Taylor, often grouped together under the “communitarian” label in the liberal-communitarian debate. My definition of a communitarian is one who believes that humans are fundamentally social and political animals, and sees human life as embodied in context, in the community and in human interaction. Examining the dynamics between MacIntyre and Taylor, two of the debate’s most prom...

Andrew Molas is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, where he received his Honours Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy. He is currently in the process of applying to graduate programs to study Philosophy, and his philosophical strengths/areas of interests include political philosophy, ethics and morality, and bioethics. Download his winning paper Discussing the Sufficiency Condition in Locke’s Second Treatise of Government and comment on it below. Discussing the Sufficiency Condition in Locke’s Second Treatise of Government Abstract: This paper examines the sufficiency condition discussed in §27 of Locke’s Second Treatise and to discuss whether it is meant to serve as a necessary restriction on the right to appropriate goods in the State of Nature. By appealing to the work done by Waldron, I will examine both Tully’s argument—that the sufficiency condition is necessary to ensure that people are not made worse off and deprived of the right to the means of their surv...

Eric Mathison attended the University of Calgary for his undergraduate and is Editor in Chief of The Gauntlet, its student publication. Download his winning paper The Insufficiency of Negative Rights for Children and comment on it below. The Insufficiency of Negative Rights for Children Abstract: In this paper I argue that negative rights are insufficient for children if the goals of liberal justice are to be fulfilled. I begin by adopting Will Kymlicka’s two preconditions for liberalism: that lives must be led from the inside, and that we must have the freedoms to revise our conceptions of the good life. I focus on the importance of autonomy development in children for those preconditions to obtain. Next I evaluate the right to an open future, which posits that children have the right to choose the type of lives they wish to lead as adults. I argue, however, that approaches of this type cannot fulfill the goals of liberalism because they fail to sufficiently address positive rights. ...

Michael Anthony is the winner of the inaugural Keenan Prize. He is from the University of Victoria and was one of the many reasons why we instituted a word count maximum for subsequent prize years. Download his (15,000+ word) paper Imminent Humanity and comment on it below. Imminent Humanity: Re-evaluating individual responsibility, liability, and immunity in times of war from a liberal perspective. Abstract: What do we owe each other in times of war? Although we may claim to understand our obligations in personal contexts, war presents extraordinary moral problems which are not easily solved by the application of familiar principles. This fact often tempts theorists and philosophers to assume either (a) wars, and the killing done in them, are in principle unethical or (b) wars are outside the realm of moral consideration. This paper takes a broadly liberal approach to examining the principles governing the forfeiture of human rights. Specifically, this paper looks at Igor Primoratz’s...