Should parents be able to control which books their children read at school? Should institutions speak out on issues that are not related to their function? Should we honour the wishes of people who have died if there’s a cost to the living? These were just some of the important social and ethical questions which were discussed during the Liverpool University regional tournament of The Ethics Cup.
However, this was no ordinary debating competition! Teams were rewarded, not just for their argument, but for expressing their views with insightfulness, thoughtfulness and civility.
The event was hosted by the Philosophy Department on the 8th January, and our guests were students from seven secondary schools in the region, who competed by debating a wide-range of ethical and social issues.
All the students did incredibly well. The time-keepers and judges were academic staff, Masters or PhD candidates from the philosophy department, and they were all really impressed with how the students conducted the debates, and with their careful consideration of the issues.
We enjoyed an exciting morning involving all schools playing two matches each, as well as listening to a taster lecture “No-one can learn anything: reading Plato’s Meno” with Dr Nikos Gkogkas. The top four schools took part in the semi-finals, and then, after a very close finals match the students from The Belvedere Academy were victorious! They have secured a place at the finals to be held at The University of St Andrews, where they will play the winners from the other regional tournaments. As a token of their achievement, the team was given copies of Dr Rachael Wiseman’s book Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life, Prof Barry Dainton’s Self and Dr Vid Simoniti’s Artists Remake the World: A Contemporary Art Manifesto.
Thanks so much to the students and teachers from The Belvedere Academy, Broughton Hall Catholic High School, Cardinal Heenan High School, Gateacre School, The Hammond, Merchant Taylors’ School and St Julie’s Catholic High School. You all did amazingly well!
Thanks to the students from The Belvedere Academy for sharing this picture of them celebrating their success!