Welcome to the Ethics Bowl Coaches Clinic

Welcome to the Ethics Bowl Coaches

ClinicOrganized by Jeff Cervantez

and Jason Fishel

Rules and Procedures

Rules Use whatever resources you like

to prepare On the day of the competition,

scratch paper is provided. Students may write on the scratch paper but notes are not permitted

All scratch paper is collected at the end of each case

Rules, cont’d When one team is conferring or

speaking, the other team and audience members must remain silent, although writing and passing notes is permitted.

For example, when Team A is given their case and question, they are allowed to confer. During that time, other teams are permitted only to write notes, but must remain silent.

Rules, cont’d. As in years past, the moderator for

the room addresses the audience and is in charge of ensuring the event is as respectful and enjoyable as possible

Procedures 5 Members per team per match The team members must be

selected and seated at the table before the cases and questions for that match are announced.

Procedures, cont’d Copies of the first case and

question will be distributed to the competitors and to the judges.

Neither the judges nor the team members will have advance knowledge of which case will be presented or which question will be asked. The moderators will then read the question.

Procedures, Semi-final rounds Team A will have up to two

minutes to confer, after which any member(s) of Team A may speak for up to 2 minutes (total) in response to the moderator’s question, based on the team’s research and critical analysis.

Procedures, cont’d Next Team B will have up to two

minutes to confer and then two minutes to response on a new question.

The semi-final round will proceed in this way until all teams have answered 2 questions

Final Round The top four scores (top 2 from each

room) from the semi-final round will go to the final round, where the same procedure is repeated.

Each match will begin with a coin toss. The team that wins the coin toss may elect to present first (to be the team designated as Team A) or to have the other team present first (and thus to be the team designated as Team B).

Final Round 2 Questions for each team, 2

replies for each team After each question, the judges will

ask the team a question. The team has 20-30 seconds to confer and 2 minutes to answer.

Judges do not ask questions during the reply phase.

Awards Totals will be tallied according to

judging criterion. Following the bowl we will pass out

awards for all participants and trophies for first, second, and third place teams.

Monetary awards will be sent out later.– $250 for each participating school– $250 additional for 3rd ($500 total)– $500 additional for 2nd ($750 total)– $750 additional for 1st ($1000 total)

Note on the Format Note that our format is different

from the national bowl. The procedures for our bowl are in the spirit of the national bowl and provide good practice.

To adopt ALL procedures from the national bowl would make our event 2 days long.

Judging Criterion 1 Clarity and Intelligibility: Was

the presentation clear and systematic? Regardless of whether or not you agree with the conclusion, did the team give a coherent argument in a clear and succinct manner?

Judging Criterion 2 Identification and Discussion of

Central Ethical Dimensions: Did the team’s presentation clearly identify and thoroughly discuss the central ethical dimensions of the case while avoiding irrelevancies?

Judging Criterion 3 Deliberative Thoughtfulness:

Did the team’s presentation indicate both awareness and thoughtful consideration of different viewpoints, including especially those that would loom large in the reasoning of individuals who disagree with the team’s position?

Theories We offer four main theories for

you. There is a wide range of ethical theory available out there. Feel free to use it.

These four theories seem to round out a good explanation of our moral intuitions, and offers a fairly complete picture of ethical thought

Theories, cont’d Deontological Theory (Kant) Consequentialism (Mill) Virtue Ethics (Aristotle) Feminist Care Ethics