On March 19, the second qualifying round of the International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO) took place at the Catholic University. The fifteen best high school students from the first, Slovak round, held at KU in 2024, participated in the Olympiad. 

The task of the competitors was to write an argumentative essay in English within 120 minutes. The competitors could choose one of three topics/quotes: Europe is not a place, it’s an idea (Bernard-Henri Lévy), If you want peace, don’t talk to your friends. Talk to your enemies (Desmond Tutu) and No one would choose to live without friends even if he had all the other goods (Aristotle).

After collecting the competition works, an anonymous evaluation will follow according to the IPO methodology, which will be carried out by members of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Bratislava. The results will be published in early April. The two best competitors will gain the right to represent the Slovak Republic at the International Philosophy Olympiad in Italy.

The Slovak coordinator and partner of the IPO is the Faculty of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Ružomberok. If you are interested in philosophy, study philosophy at the Catholic University of Ružomberok. You can find all important information here.