Silver Medal for Philosophy Students in Tertiary Ethics Olympiad

In October 2024 two teams of students from the University of Melbourne participated in the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics (AAPAE) Tertiary Ethics Olympiad. These ethics athletes, or ‘eth-letes’, as they are known in the competition, went up against universities from across Australia. They were supported by coach Dr Alex Cain (Teaching Associate, Philosophy), who reports here for Forum on the event.

Congratulations to University of Melbourne’s ‘Aqua’ team, which placed second at the 2024 AAPAE Tertiary Ethics Olympiad, collecting a silver medal. The ‘Aqua’ team consisted of Bridget Hulls, Liliana Mcrae, Kai Prideaux and Frances Reid. Congratulations also to the University of Melbourne ‘Maroon’ team, which placed fourth, collecting a judges’ commendation. The ‘Maroon’ team consisted of Milo Coghlan-Smith, Lillian Dalton, Maximilian Hepperlin and Jacob Howie. First and third places were taken by teams from Australian National University.

The AAPEA Tertiary Ethics Olympiad is a debate-style competition modelled on the US Ethics Bowl, wherein teams discuss applied ethics cases. There is one major difference between the Olympiad and a conventional debate: the teams do not have to argue on the affirmative or negative side of the issue at hand and are permitted to agree with one another. The result is a competitive but collaborative and productive discussion of hard cases in applied ethics that celebrates listening skills, nuance in argumentation and communal inquiry.

This year’s success was the culmination of a year of hard work. Every week throughout Semester 2 2024, the University of Melbourne eth-letes met to prepare. They discussed the cases, came to a team consensus on what they thought were the central moral dimensions of the cases, considered various viewpoints, and participated in several practice heats.

In September these preparations culminated in a practice workshop with experienced Ethics Olympiad judge Dr Hugh Breakey. The teams discussed cases from the 2023 case set and got a feel for the way the event would run. This workshop was organised by eth-lete Jacob Howie, who also acted as Team Coordinator for 2024. We are grateful to Dr Breakey for giving his time to help our students prepare for the competition.

On the day of the Olympiad, the event was held on Zoom. The cases were read out and then the eth-letes were presented with a question related to the case. While they had been able to study the cases for months, this was the first time they were presented with that specific question.

Questions included, but were not limited to: Should venues with moral concerns about performances involving the participation of people with Down Syndrome in Drag performances be entitled to refuse to host these performances without suffering legal challenges? Should copyright law prohibit the tattooing of copyrighted works, requiring pictures, artwork, photographs and designs to be licensed before tattooing using those works can be done? What standards—regarding climate justice and ecological care—should those engaging in outdoor activities like offroading be held to, even if such activities are shown to encourage other pro-ecological pursuits and values? Is it morally worrying to prioritize ‘charismatic species’ like the panda so drastically, compared to other animals and species?

Teams were scored on their ability to present in a clear and systematic manner; to identify and thoroughly discuss the central moral dimensions of the case; to show awareness and consideration of other viewpoints, including possible objections to their own viewpoint; and, last but certainly not least, their capacity for respectful dialogue.

Funding from the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies made the registration of the 2024 teams possible and the School has generously agreed to fund team registration in 2025.

Preparations are now underway in the leadup to the 2025 AAPAE Tertiary Ethics Olympiad, to be held on 9 October 2025. The University of Melbourne will again field two teams and will prepare throughout the year.

Students who are interested in representing the University of Melbourne at the 2025 AAPAE Tertiary Ethics Olympiad are encouraged to email Alex Cain for more information. More information about the Olympiad is also available on the Ethics Olympiad website. Students interested in studying ethics at the University of Melbourne may like to look into enrolling in Ethics of Capitalism (PHIL20044) or Ethical Theory (PHIL20008). 

Dr Alex Cain is a Teaching Associate in Philosophy in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies. Her research focuses on the political and ethical theory of Hannah Arendt. She mainly teaches ethics, political philosophy and history of philosophy subjects.

Feature image: L–R: Members of the ‘Aqua’ team: Liliana Mcrae, Kai Prideaux, Bridget Hulls, Frances Reid.