Each year the Foundation awards an annual prize for final year students studying at King’s College, London, for the best dissertation on some aspect of Ancient Philosophy. The prize was named after Mary Margaret McCabe, Emerita Professor of Ancient Philosophy at King’s, a leading authority on Plato who has inspired countless students in their study of his works.
The prize was won this year by Joshua Kerr. His thesis is entitled ‘Protagoras’ Great Speech, Sophistry in Athens, and Socrates’ Condemnation’. It examines the conception of civic virtue implicit in the ‘Great Speech’ of Protagoras in Plato’s dialogue of that name. The thesis argues that this is a diluted conception of civic virtue, motivated in part by the pragmatic context in which Protagoras operated as a foreign sophist in democratic Athens, which makes impossible the recognition of exceptional excellence. Furthermore, the thesis argues that, in Plato’s Apology, it is this same diluted conception of civic virtue that underpins the evaluative framework within which the prosecutors of Socrates articulate their case against him.
The prize giving ceremony was held in the Council Room at the University on 10 June 2026. Dr Shaul Tor from the Departments of Classics and Philosophy at King’s presented the prize to Joshua who thanked the academic staff for their immense support and spoke enthusiastically about wanting to continue his studies in Plato.
Dr Saul Tor also introduced the guest speaker for the evening, Professor Melissa Lane from Princeton University who gave a fascinating and lively lecture on ‘Plato’s Republic on Motivating (Ecological) Guardianship.’ Professor Lane’s premise was that for Plato, ‘to know is to act and to act is to know’. In her presentation, she explored the question of how it is therefore that despite the apparent knowledge of impending ecological disasters due to climate change, we are not as a society and as individuals acting on that knowledge. What is it that we are not understanding?
We wish Joshua well in his future Platonic studies.
