Category: Annoucements

Search the Dobbs. v. Jackson Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade for “philosopher” and you’ll find references to Australian ethicist Peter Singer, ethicist Mary Anne Warren’s “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion” and the leading academic journal Philosophy & Public Affairs all supporting a section analyzing personhood.

As readers of Abortion Ethics in a Nutshell know, personhood is a moral concept capturing the capacities we associate with the most valuable creatures of all: adult humans – consciousness, the ability to feel pleasure and pain, the ability to engage in relationships, and higher order reasoning which facilitates moral agency, responsibility, and full membership in the moral community.

Unborn Developing Humans (aka fetuses, unborn children, etc.) possess none of these features of personhood at conception, but they do develop some over the course of gestation, and become more likely to develop into full persons the closer they are to birth. Accordingly, the “gradualist” position – that a UDH’s value increases as they develop, and therefore later term abortions are more difficult to justify – makes a lot of sense. (For more, listen to the “The Nature of the Conception” chapter here.)

I’ve not read the full decision yet, and so I’m not sure if the ruling acknowledges the appeal of gradualism. But I share the simple fact that they mention philosophers and ethicists by name and employ one of our key terms to help you appreciate how our work has implications at the highest levels.

Sometimes it can feel as if Ethics Bowl is an isolated game and that the world-changing action happens elsewhere. In some ways, it does. Losing Ethics Bowl team coaches aren’t jailed (thank goodness!) and Ethics Bowl judges’ proclamations aren’t legally binding (doubly thank goodness!). But the sort of analysis we refine and the progress that we drive through our collaborative pursuit of moral truth can and does find its way into the minds of decision-makers. Slowly but surely.

We won’t always agree with their decisions. And we rightly doubt their commitment to objective, truth-oriented analysis (including Jarvis-Thomson or Maggie Little in their analysis would have helped). But the broader philosophical, applied ethics and Ethics Bowl communities are leading by example, and our work is making a practical difference.

Here’s that section, in which the Justices challenge viability as a useful criterion for granting a UDH full legal protection.

“This arbitrary line [the time at which a UDH can survive outside of the womb] has not found much support among philosophers and ethicists who have attempted to justify a right to abortion. Some have argued that a [Unborn Developing Human] should not be entitled to legal protection until it acquires the characteristics that they regard as defining what it means to be a ‘person.’ Among the characteristics that have been offered as essential attributes of ‘personhood’ are sentience, self-awareness, the ability to reason, or some combination thereof. By this logic, it would be an open question whether even born individuals, including young children or those afflicted with certain developmental or medical conditions, merit protection as ‘persons.’ [They’re right, but biting the bullet and excluding some categories of humans from full personhood is the price we pay for being honest about the importance of personhood.] But even if one takes the view that ‘personhood’ begins when a certain attribute or combination of attributes is acquired, it is very hard to see why viability should mark the point where ‘personhood’ begins.”

Check out the full ruling yourself (it’s a landmark decision and you’re more than capable, so analyze it firsthand!), and if you’d like to author a post connecting it to Ethics Bowl, guest submissions welcome.

The American Philosophical Association recently showcased an ethics bowl syllabus redesigned and taught by Michael Vazquez of UNC’s Parr Center.

Using the ethics bowl format to teach democratic deliberation, the class pairs UNC undergrads as coaches for NHSEB teams across the country via the new NHSEBBridge program.

Especially impressive is Michael’s “toolkit” approach to teaching ethics. Check out the full post and syllabus, and leave Michael some positive feedback here.

I’ve said for years that if ESPN is willing to air spelling bees and poker tournaments, surely there’s an audience for ethics bowl. Well, the good folks at UNC’s Parr Center have taken it upon themselves to livestream the NHSEB! So let’s put that theory to the test.

If you’re online this weekend, check out the “Spectator Portal” links here and let us know what you think. In the future, I’m envisioning Joe Rogan and maybe Andrew Yang providing live commentary. But for now, chat discussion, when available, will have to suffice. Enjoy! And here’s to hoping IEB, Ethics Olympiad and other formats offer something similar soon.