SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021, Manhattanville College’s Philosophy program held its 6th annual Westchester County High School Ethics Bowl in tandem with the Marshall Institute for Ethical Thought and Action. 

Even with the complications caused by the COVID crisis, it was the biggest event of its kind yet. 

The Bowl welcomed nine schools, sixteen teams, and more than seventy high school students. The students that participated were as diverse as the schools that attended. From John S. Burke Catholic to North Rockland Public High School to the Armenian Siamanto Academy of New York City, all put aside their differences to engage in spirited debate. Hackley School, a private college preparatory school took first place this year. 

Many Manhattanville students, alumni, and faculty participated as judges for the Bowl.

My name is Hermann Herder, I am a high school student from Montreal Canada, and I was bestowed with the honor of being a judge at the Ethics Bowl this year. I joined a remarkably diverse and accomplished group. 

Judges from as far away as Armenia, England, Germany, Italy, and Mexico, with the group having among them several clergymen, a Federal Court Appellate judge and several other persons of renown. The Ethics Bowl is a fantastic event that encourages independent and critical thought in students. 

During the actual competition teams are given a real-life ethical dilemma and are asked to come up with a solution, and more importantly defend their position in an intelligent and logical fashion. The opposing team asks the first group any questions they may have or mentions anything they have remarked upon. After this the original team is then given time to respond to the questions and clarify any holes in their reasoning. Judges then get an opportunity to ask questions as well, and score the students presentation on the clarity, and structure of their argument. The situation is then flipped with the second team receiving a different case and following the same pattern as the first team. To give you an example of what a case study might look like, one case that I found pertinent was called “Dining out During Pandemic”. This case was about two people who loved to go to restaurants before life shut down due to COVID. In the case participants were asked to weigh personal freedoms and joys such as dining out, with the potential health risks to themselves and others that this action entailed. The conversation that ensued about the case was one of the highlights of the Bowl for me. I was extremely impressed with the student's ability to defend their positions and answer any rebuttals that the other side had. 

What makes the Ethics Bowl special and different from other similar competitions is that rather than focus on the end results, the Bowl is all about the process. Students are asked to come up with their own unique viewpoints on the cases they are presented, and although it is a competition, opposing teams are really working together to arrive at the truth, or as close to it as is possible within the constraints of the Bowl. This is really where the competitors in the Bowl shine. All the students are extremely polite, and I found that whenever either one of the judges or even the other team had a question or comment on their arguments students wouldn’t simply say sure and then move on, rather they listened and thought about it which truly made it a joy to judge and witness this competition. In addition, and particularly relevant in this age of fast information and easy answers, participants at the Bowl are asked to think for themselves without outside aid. Students must respond to questions with answers that are truly their own, and thus are forced to become leaders in thought rather than simply follow behind other people’s premade arguments.