This year, we hosted the sixth edition of our annual Practical Ethics and Responsibility Competition (PERC). We received 42 entries to the video competition, and though we had many great entries, four finalists emerged as our winning teams, and travelled to Oxford for a day of ethics and debate, supported by their teachers.
Our four teams were from Christ’s Hospital School, Highgate Senior School, St. Paul’s School for Girls (Birmingham), and Westminster School. They earned their place at the Schools Day through their winning video entries in which they outlined an argument on an ethical topic of their choice in just 4 minutes. They chose compelling topics: on whether being brought up in a racist environment provides an adequate excuse for racist behaviour, whether we have a responsibility to abide by a dead person’s will, the ethics of mandatory vaccinations, and whether nations have the responsibility to protect other nations under attack. And, most importantly, they engaged with these topics in a thoughtful and nuanced manner.
As in previous years, the day included several opportunities for the teams to engage with UOI academics. Dr. Jonathan Pugh began the day with a lively discussion about what counts as an adequate excuse for wrongdoing. Dr. Gabriel De Marco and Dr. Alberto Giublini’s exhibition debate showed us what it was like to disagree about whether we even have free will. And Dr. Tess Johnson’s popular talk on how to escape the muddy depths of slippery slope arguments was a great precursor to the final debate.
But the students were the ones who really took centre stage. After discussing their own video topics with each other, students were assigned positions in new debates.
Two teams debated whether it should be legal for physicians to help patients to end their own lives if they are suffering and are expected to die within 6 months anyway.
The other teams addressed the question of whether we have ethical responsibilities towards AI companions (for example, AI friends or romantic partners).
Ultimately, the team from Westminster School were crowned this year’s winners, with Highgate coming in a close second. St. Paul’s received third place, and Christ’s Hospital fourth.
Huge congratulations to this year’s finalists, who all submitted stellar videos and provided high quality debate. We’re already looking forward to next year’s competition!
