Philosophy Students Compete in Tertiary Ethics Olympiad

In October 2023 two teams of students from the University of Melbourne participated in the inaugural 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 Australasia. They were supported by coach Dr Alex Cain (Teaching Associate, Philosophy), who reports here for Forum on the event.

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. 

The University of Melbourne ‘Aqua’ team consisted of Jaydon Chai, Joseph Henningsen and Louis Jones. The University of Melbourne ‘Maroon’ team consisted of Milo Coghlan-Smith, Lillian Dalton and Jacob Howie. These students had previously taken the philosophy subject Ethical Theory earlier that year, where they had displayed excellent critical thinking and discussion skills.

Every week throughout Semester 2 last year, 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, with detailed feedback provided by the coach.

On the day, 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.

 Topics under discussion included whether it is appropriate for organisations such as Wimbledon to discriminate against sports players from nations showing military aggression, disallowing them to play under their country’s flag; whether there is a moral case for doing away with drug testing in sports; whether Tweets should be moderated or whether moderation of Tweets is a violation of rights to free speech; what it looks like to be a good parent in 2023; what moral agency minors should have over their own healthcare; and the ethical implications of litigation financing.

Teams are 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.

Both University of Melbourne teams performed brilliantly against some stiff competition, and were awarded honourable mentions from the judges, with the Maroons placing fourth, narrowly missing out on a medal.

The eth-letes reflected on how their participation had enriched their university experience:

I thoroughly enjoyed the collaborative atmosphere allowing me to develop new friendships with my peers. The Ethics Olympiad competition day was a fantastic experience, as I had the opportunity to engage with students from other university teams, fostering a dynamic environment where I felt both supported and challenged to expand my critical thinking skills.

Lillian Dalton, AAPAE Tertiary Ethics Olympiad team member

President of the AAPAE, Dr Hugh Breakey, was impressed with the standard of argumentation throughout the competition:

Having watched and judged the last two Tertiary Olympiads, the thing that I love about the Ethics Olympiads is how respectful the deliberation is, and how much this impacts on the discussion’s philosophical quality. When students know that they will be scored on responding thoughtfully and sensitively – rather than aggressively and dismissively – to other students’ arguments, they demonstrate impressive capabilities to listen carefully and respond fairly to others’ views. From surveying the quality of arguments in social media, political debate, and most opinion writing in major presses, it’s easy to get the impression that arguing well is a lost art. Too often, arguments are riven with straw person fallacies, ad hominem, rampant confirmation bias, and rhetorical point-scoring. But the Ethics Olympiads show that if people are put into structures that reward constructive argument rather than outrage, they can become models of exemplary argument.

Preparations are now underway in the leadup to the 2024 AAPEA Tertiary Ethics Olympiad, to be held on 10October 2024. The University of Melbourne will again field two teams, with training events planned throughout the year.

The highlight of these events is a workshop, planned for mid-year, which will include an exhibition heat performed by past Olympiad participants, aimed at giving other interested students an idea of how an Olympiad heat runs.

The workshop will also include a session by Dr Daniel Burkett, who was a judge at the 2023 AAPAE Tertiary Ethics Olympiad. Dr Burkett is lecturer at Bingham University, The State University of New York, where he researches applied ethics, environmental ethics and the ethics of punishment. Funding from the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies will make these training events possible.

Students who are interested in representing the University of Melbourne at the 2024 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) (Semester 1, 2024) or Ethical Theory (PHIL20008) (Semester 2, 2024). 

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: Screenshot of the 2023 AAPAE Tertiary Ethics Olympiad teams, judges and organisers}