High School Ethics Bowl

Information on the 2012 Triangle High School Ethics Bowl.

Watch our introductory video: Triangle High School Ethics Bowl

The Triangle High School Ethics Bowl, hosted annually by the Parr Center for Ethics and the Department of Philosophy at UNC-Chapel Hill, is a competition in which schools from across the region gather to debate ethical issues and compete in forming arguments that shows logical, reasonable and rational thought.

Teams participate in multiple rounds of head-to-head competition. Panels of three judges -- university faculty, graduate students, and other members of the community -- score the rounds while a moderator manages the event.

Ethics Bowl competitions are different from Debate  because Ethics Bowl concentrates mostly on argument structure and its logical or rational qualities. Teams are not required to pick (nor are they assigned) opposing view points; they can agree on the conclusion but differ in their arguments. Style or theater is also not important here; judges want to see students demonstrate a keen ability to reason and form logical arguments.

Ethics Bowl competition is still new to most North Carolina high schools, so the Parr Center compiles resources to explain to students, educators, and parents the nature of the competition, and aids in the formulation of new teams during the first year or two of competition.

If you have any questions about Ethics Bowl or would like help starting a a team, contact us at at parrcenter@unc.edu or (919) 843-5641.