Ethics Bowl: Case–based Reasoning in Ethics
Winter Study 2007
Ethics Bowl is a nationwide intercollegiate competition in which teams comprising three to five undergraduate students cooperatively develop, present, and respond to analyses of a set of fifteen morally complex case scenarios. In the national program, all teams receive the cases in advance of the competition, but they are not provided with the question about each case which they'll be asked to address during the tournament. Thus, teams must work through all facets of the scenarios in order to be prepared for whatever the moderator and judges may ask. The competition proceeds, tournament style, as a series of matches in which two teams square off in debating a question concerning the moral features of a given case. However, it is a debate with a difference: because teams do not know in advance what will be asked, they are not obliged to take a position opposing that of their competitors. They may disagree or concur, but must provide an assessment of their opponents' arguments and justification for their own conclusions. The emphasis in presentations is on substantive argumentation, not on rhetoric or presentation style, and the positions presented typically represent a consensus among all the team members who have contributed to the preparations and analysis.
This winter study course will be modeled on the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl format. It will begin with a brief introduction to reasoning in practical (as opposed to theoretical) ethics and case analysis. Thereafter, students will begin working through this year's Ethics Bowl cases, some taken from the regional Ethics Bowl competition held in the Fall and some from the upcoming national competition. The scenarios present ethical problems in one of a number of personal, professional, or public policy domains (e.g., medical, legal, journalistic, and environmental ethics; issues of academic integrity, personal relationships, etc.) Students in the course will collaborate in analyzing all of the cases in–depth, but will take primary responsibility for at least one and up to five cases. The discussion sessions will be intensive, but very much student–driven, with the instructor acting as a coach rather than as a teacher.
The course will include at least one or two public "scrimmages" which may include teams from area schools (e.g., Dartmouth, Union). The course is open both to members and to nonmembers of the Williams College Ethics Bowl team.
Requirements: final paper (7–10 pp) based on an Ethics Bowl case of the student's choice.
Enrollment limit: 15 (expected 5–10), priority to current Ethics Bowl team members and to juniors and seniors (any major).
No prerequisites.
Meeting time: afternoons.
Cost: none.