The Gregory Pence Prize in Applied Ethics

The W&M philosophy department is proud to offer this annual prize, thanks to the generous endowment of bioethicist and W&M alum (‘70), Gregory Pence. After graduating from William & Mary, Dr. Pence went on to study with Peter Singer while earning his Ph.D. at NYU. He authored the best-selling textbook, Medical Ethics: Accounts of Ground-Breaking Cases (among many others), has won several teaching excellence awards at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, while coaching multiple national championship-winning Ethics Bowl teams. He also runs the YouTube channel, Great Stories in Bioethics. His research and teaching interests span a wide range of issues within bioethics, including the ethics of human cloning, genetic enhancement, and pandemic ethics.

Professor Pence now encourages and supports the next generation of W&M ethicists with the establishment of an essay competition for papers in applied ethics.

The Award
Each academic year, a prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the author of the best essay submission, as decided by the department awards committee. (The committee may also choose not to bestow the award in a given year, or it may choose to divide the prize, awarding two students $500 each.)

Requirements
This competition is open to all W&M students. Submitted papers must be between 2,000 and 4,000 words, and must be in some area of applied ethics. (Preference will be given for papers specifically in bioethics.) Students may submit papers written for courses, chapters from honors theses, or essays written specifically for the contest.

Submissions are due by April 10th each year, and should be submitted in paper form directly to the departmental office. Essays must be submitted to the philosophy department office (James Blair 121) in duplicate (i.e., two printed copies), anonymously, with no identifying features. (Authorship must be indicated only on a separate cover page.)

In order to be considered for the prize, each applicant must also fill out and submit this form.

What Is Applied Ethics?
Applied ethics is the application of normative moral or political theories or principles to specific, real world issues, in order to determine the moral status of specific kinds of actions or policies. Some examples of common sub-disciplines within applied ethics are biomedical ethics, environmental ethics, and business ethics. Popular examples of specific issues investigated include the moral status of abortion, immigration, euthanasia, capital punishment, meat consumption, charity donation, greenhouse gas-emitting activities, and many more. Applied ethics can even include questions about the moral status of our laws (e.g., should drug use be criminalized?). (Note: If you are unsure whether your paper qualifies as applied ethics, you may always consult the instructor for whom it was written.)

For Students Applying for the Jerry Miller Award
Note: Graduating philosophy majors may submit a single essay for both the Pence Prize and the Jerry Miller award, provided that their paper meets the criteria for both awards. However, in that case, they must print additional copies of their essay, according to the instructions for each award. Note also that, while a single essay may be considered for both awards, no single essay is eligible to receive both awards (i.e., any graduating philosophy major attempting to win both awards must submit a different essay for each).