YSU Ethics Bowl Team Heads to Finals
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Three Youngstown State University students are headed next February to Reston, Va., site of the national finals hosted by the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics.
They are Jacob Shriner-Briggs of Austintown, Tyler Miller Gordon of Hubbard and Lindsay Heldreth of Canfield. Alan Tomhave, associate professor of philosophy, their coach, will accompany them.
The three competed in the regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl in Indianapolis earlier this fall to earn a spot in the national tournament.
Gordon is a junior majoring in French and philosophy, Heldreth a sophomore majoring in political science and philosophy, Shriner-Briggs a senior also majoring in political science and philosophy.
The contest in Indianapolis contest was among 10 regional Ethics Bowls across the United States and Canada.
The competitions focus on sets of 15 cases for which the teams have slightly less than two months to study and research. At the competitions, the teams do not know which of the 15 cases they will address, nor do they know the question that they will have to answer.
Further, they are denied the use of their notes on. Once a case is presented and the question asked, the team has either one or two minutes (depending on whether it is a regional or national Ethics Bowl) to prepare.
The presentation requires a moral argument to answer the question and consider potential objections to the team’s position.
A second team then comments on the first team’s argument, with the first team responding. Then three judges ask questions.
At this point, a new case is presented and the two teams reverse their roles. This process would constitute one match, with an Ethics Bowl consisting of several matches. The teams need not disagree with each other and a heavy emphasis is placed on civility, the goal being an informed discussion of ethical issues.
Pictured: Members of the YSU Ethics Bowl are, from the left, Jacob Shriner-Briggs of Austintown, Tyler Miller Gordon of Hubbard, and Lindsay Heldreth of Canfield, along with Alan Tomhave, coach and associate professor of Philosophy.
SOURCE: YSU News Center
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