Question the premise.
The Dialectic Review publishes original philosophical essays by secondary-school writers — argued and defended, not summarized — alongside published objections, workshops, and an open submission process.
Philosophy begins before the answer.
Most students meet philosophy, if at all, after years spent solving questions with predetermined answers. We start earlier than that — with the assumptions sitting underneath the question, unexamined.
Every piece we publish is read closely, argued with, and revised before it's accepted. We're not asking for polish — we're asking for a claim you're willing to defend against the best objection someone else can make to it.
Everything The Dialectic Review does.
The Journal
Themed issues of original essays, short arguments, and dialogues — each argument published beside its strongest objection.
Read the Journal →Back Issues
Seven issues and the 2025 Prize supplement, each a typeset PDF to download.
Browse the archive →The Fellowship
Twenty students, eight weeks of structured mentorship, one publication.
See the 2025 Cohort →The Dialectic Prize
Our annual essay competition — 2,200 submissions in 2025, six winners published.
See the winners →Workshops
Short sessions on the craft of argument. Open to anyone.
See the next one →About
What the Review is, how a piece gets published, and who runs it.
Read about us →Submit
Issue 08 is open worldwide — deadline 1 December 2026. Formats, word counts and the full guide.
Read the guidelines →Join the Forum
The next issue and the Question, first.
Join →Arguments, not assignments.
Is Consent Enough to Make an Unequal Arrangement Just?
A defence of the view that procedural consent cannot, by itself, legitimate a bargain struck under conditions of unequal power.
Is Ignorance Ever a Form of Integrity?
Why choosing not to know can sometimes preserve moral agency rather than diminish it.
What Do We Owe the Machines We Build?
An argument against grounding artificial moral status in behavioural mimicry alone.
Do we owe anything to people we will never meet?
Write your strongest case in 300 words. Selected responses will be published together as a symposium, with rejoinders in the following issue.
Plato’s Academy — mosaic from PompeiiThe Dialectic Prize.
Our annual essay competition, judged against a published rubric rather than a closed panel’s taste. The 2025 cycle drew 2,200 submissions; six winners were published.
Friedrich — Wanderer above the Sea of FogIssue 07 — The Unequal Bargain.
Winter 2025/26 · 9 essays · 4 counterarguments
Have an argument worth testing?
Submissions for Issue 08 are open worldwide, deadline 1 December 2026.