Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2010 - (Page 28)

or the past two years, I’ve spent a beautiful spring Saturday in a conference room at the University of Baltimore’s Business Center. On these Saturdays, I have gathered with classmates and students from other schools for Ethics Bowl, a competition sponsored by the University of Baltimore (UB) to promote ethics in high schools. These have been some of the most enjoyable and intellectually stimulating days of my life. I had been on my high school’s public speaking team and participated in debate, so when I learned that UB wanted to start a high school Ethics Bowl, I was interested. I believe that ethics are more than rules and standards that govern our behavior and decisions. They represent who we are, present a model for others, and provide a baseline for understanding right and wrong so we can talk about issues that affect all of us. states that moral laws must be absolute and unconditional. Consider Jack Bauer-style torture of people suspected of withholding information vital to national security. Utilitarians would argue that the possibility of saving thousands of lives justifies torture, whereas deontologists—those who judge morality based on adherence to rules—would say that torture is never moral and should never be used. These traditionally competing systems of morality have been at the root of almost all ethical thought since the 19th century. Exploring Ethics Becoming Ethical Thinkers Teams would have ten members, five of whom would compete in a given Ethics Bowl. My teammates and I stayed after school twice a week to practice. Our coach, who also headed our debate team, composed sample topics and guided our discussions. As we became more experienced, he became less involved in our practices. Each problem in the competition would be classified under systems of ethics such as bioethics, academic ethics, legal ethics, or personal ethics, and would pose a question with some basis in fact. Problems might include the legitimacy of removing questions on standardized tests that evidence racial bias, or whether organizations like the Ku Klux Klan should be allowed to participate in the Adopt-a-Highway program. Some seemed to have easy answers. Others, such as the question of killing a mother to save a child, divided the team and led to diﬃcult, fascinating debates. We searched the Internet and texts to understand systems of ethics, including utilitarianism as pioneered by John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative. Utilitarianism suggests that we should do the most good for the greatest number of people. The categorical imperative Ethical Considerations Rather than focus on a single theory, we compared multiple theories in our study of ethical problems. Studying many approaches would help us discover our own positions—and defend them. For practice, we each chose an ethical theory that we agreed with and used these theories to evaluate different issues. We engaged in mock debates, trying to convince each other of different opinions. While we weren’t required to use specific ethical systems in our arguments, we felt that it would be educational if we alluded to them in our debates. In addition, since we needn’t present a unanimous opinion, we decided that one of us should present a dissenting opinion. It would provide for deeper discourse and show that we had considered other perspectives. In the competition, we would face four rounds of two questions each. Each round would center on a case the university provided to us a few weeks beforehand. The case would contain such information as historical background, legal rulings, and cultural considerations to help us understand the context. 28 imagine Mar/Apr 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2010

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2010
Contents
Editor’s Note
Big Questions
In My Own Words
Why Study Philosophy?
The Great Conversation
Robots, Zombies, and Descartes
The Wide World of Philosophy
The Philosopher’s Toolbox
Bad Dreams, Evil Demons, and The Experience Machine
Harry Potter and Plato
Exploring Ethics (or, Why I Give Up Saturdays in Spring)
How to Start a Philosophy Club
Selected Opportunities & Resources
Middle Ground
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Creative Minds Imagine
Sudoku
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - March/April 2010