To join feel free to send a request to join on this website, or click this link to fill out a google form.
Last year's team during the virtual competition!
Ethics Bowl is a collegiate competition based club. Participants are given a set of 18, that will later be cut to 12, cases on issues ranging from AI, Art, Nature, The Supreme Court, etc. at the beginning of fall semester. Students will then dissect the cases for the big issues and then develop arguments around those issues pulling from intuition and maybe outside sources. The group will then come together to find an argument that they will be able to give in the competition for each of the 12 cases. The competition will take place at the end of the fall semester in a large(-ish) Midwest city. There students will compete against other schools in the Upper Midwest, discussing the arguments they have generated throughout the year. Ethics Bowl builds better reasoning skills, better communication skills, and more.
See Below for more understanding on what Ethics Bowl is, why choose Ethics Bowl, and what happens in Ethics Bowl.
What is Ethics Bowl?
Ethics Bowl is a philosophical debate team. Each semester, we receive cases that deal with contemporary, contentious issues and discuss them. After a couple months of practice and whimsical discussion, we travel to a (relatively) major city and compete against other schools using the ideas and arguments we’ve created during our preparation.
Why Choose Ethics Bowl?
Ethics Bowl is a lovely opportunity to engage in deep discussions with fun, smart people. It’s an opportunity to test out your ideas and be exposed to new ways of thinking. It’s also an opportunity to work together with a dedicated group of people who care about your wellbeing. Beyond that, the topics we discuss are wide-ranging and relevant, the jokes are funny and fast-flowing, and the time commitment we ask of our members is limited. This is an org that you can join and still have time for classes, friends, and other parts of your life.
What Will You Learn From Ethics Bowl?
You’ll learn how to speak clearly and concisely about complex issues. You’ll practice how to listen and comprehend other’s arguments, and you’ll hone your ability to form and nuance your own arguments. Most importantly, you’ll develop the ability to ask good questions. Good questions are the engine that drives our student-led conversations, and the ability to ask them is prized on our team.
What Happens During An Ethics Bowl Round?
Ethics Bowl competitions are unique in that we don’t have to disagree with the other team and ‘beat’ them argumentatively. They’re judged on how nuanced and clear each team’s arguments and rebuttals are. During a round, one team will be given 7 or 10 minutes to present an argument on a specific case and the other team will be given 5 minutes to respond after which the first team will be given a chance to respond to the rebuttal. After 10 minutes of judge’s questions focusing on the first team’s main argument, the second team will deliver a 7 or 10 minute argument on a different case after which the first team will have 5 minutes to give a rebuttal. The second team will respond to that rebuttal and will then field 10 minutes of judge’s questions. Then, the judges’ scores will be tallied and the winner announced. If that’s confusing, there’s a diagram below that explains it.