January 2026 Newsletter: Spring Competitions, In-Person Events & Philosophy Teaching
Dear Educators and Coaches,
MPI Education Inc., previously known as the Modus Ponens Institute, is an education organization with a single objective: to improve public discourse and education through philosophy, ethics, and dialogue.
Our programs give students structured opportunities to engage seriously with complex moral questions, practice public reasoning, and receive detailed feedback from highly qualified judges.
Preparation resources for all events are available here: https://www.modusponensinstitute.com/resources
Spring 2026 Events
TKEthics Invitational Spring 2026
February 28, 2026
The TKEthics Invitational Spring 2026 uses the Ethics Olympiad dialogue-based format but allows teams to form across schools and countries. The case set focuses more heavily on technology and artificial intelligence ethics, while maintaining the same emphasis on dialogue and judge feedback.
This event is particularly well suited for teams in the Americas, East Asia, and Australasian time zones.
2026 Senior European Ethics Olympiad
March 19, 2026
The Ethics Olympiad is a philosophy competition in which school-based teams discuss ethical cases in a structured, dialogue-based format with a philosophy-trained judge. Teams are evaluated on clarity, fairness to opposing views, and depth of reasoning, with extensive oral and written feedback.
This event is open to school-based teams from Europe, the United Kingdom, and Africa.
2026 Senior USA, Central and South American Ethics Olympiad
April 4, 2026
This regional senior Olympiad follows the same format and case set as other Ethics Olympiads. Top teams qualify for the 2026 International Ethics Olympiad Final.
2026 Senior Canadian Ethics Olympiad
April 11, 2026
The Canadian Senior Ethics Olympiad is open to school-based teams in Canada and serves as a qualifying event for the International Final.
2026 Spring Global AI Debates
The Global AI Debates focus specifically on artificial intelligence and ethics. Students may enter either a speech track or an essay and debate track. Top submissions advance to live online finals judged by professionals from universities, AI research institutes, and the technology sector.
Topics – Spring 2026
Primary School Speech (ages 7–10): Schools should use AI teachers. 5-minute speech
Middle School Speech (ages 11–13): AI will be bad for the media ecosystem. 7-minute speech
High School Speech (ages 14–18): We support the Future of Life Institute Statement on superintelligence. 7-minute speech
Essay and Debate (any age): We support the Future of Life Institute Statement on superintelligence. 1,500-word essay arguing either the Pro or the Con of the topic
Citations and bibliographies do not count toward the word limit. Essays exceeding the limit will not be considered. Students may argue either side of the topic in their submission.
Please feel free to forward this to all teachers, departments, or colleagues at your school who may be interested in these opportunities.
We are also in early discussions about holding in-person events in Texas, Arizona, and Florida in Fall 2026. If you or your students may be interested in attending an in-person competition, we would love to hear from you.
In addition, we are open to running in-person philosophy training days at schools around the country.
For questions or expressions of interest, please contact us at info@modusponensinstitute.com.
We hope to see you this spring.
Kind regards, Modus Ponens Institute
Comments