Each year, two Hungarian students are invited to the International Philosophy Olympiad who have already proven their knowledge in the subject as finalists of a national competition for secondary school students and at the Hungarian qualifiers for the international event.

This year’s Olympiad, held between 14 and 18 May, saw the participation of 83 students from 40 countries, who had four hours to write their essays in English, Spanish, French or German based on their choice of four quotes. The Hungarian gold medallist, who studies at Budapest’s Fazekas Mihály Gimnázium, the country’s top secondary school, selected a quote by Simone De Beauvoir and wrote a piece on the connection between philosophy and art.

The jury evaluated the compositions based on five considerations: understanding of the subject, coherence, the ability to argue, originality and proficiency in the area.

Last year, Iván Merker won a silver medal at the Olympiad held in Vilnius, Lithuania; in 2013, fellow Fazekas student Róbert Palasik returned from Denmark with a gold medal.

Source: hungarytoday.hu

Republished with permission