Philosophy Department to host third annual Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture

The Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture is a lively forum for the discussion and exploration of ethics-related challenges in human endeavors. Presented annually by the Philosophy Department, the Ethics Lecture is made possible by the Peggy Downes Baskin Humanities Endowment for Interdisciplinary Ethics, a fund created in honor of Peggy Downes’s longtime interest in ethical issues across the academic spectrum.

“There are so many areas in which ethical problems arise–in journalism, politics, medicine,” Baskin said. “The endowment emphasizes the need to address these issues in a cross-disciplinary context.”

This winter, we welcome our third annual ethics lecturer, Dr. Jan Boxill, Director of the Parr Center for Ethics, Chair of the Faculty, and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Dr. Boxill’s talk is titled, “Using sports as a public forum for ethics.” In addition to giving a public lecture and meeting with various student groups and faculty, Dr. Boxill also agreed to serve as Judge and Honorary Chair of the inaugural 2013 California Regional High School Ethics Bowl Competition, to be held on Saturday, February 2.

“Jan will be a great resource on Ethics Team matters, as she is the coach for the UNC team and is also leading the development of a consortium for developing a high school league,” said William Ladusaw, Dean of Humanities.

The High School Ethics Bowl is a collaborative yet competitive event, more nuanced than debate, in which teams are presented with a series of wide-ranging ethical dilemmas and are asked to analyze them; they are then judged on the basis of their analyses. The tournament is also a way for students to gain valuable insight into ethical and philosophical issues.

“Ethics Bowl is both about the use of ethical and analytical thinking in everyday life,” said Rasmus Winther, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at UCSC. “It is also about teaching those tools to students who can then go out in the world and make a positive impact.”

Public Lecture Information:
“Using sports as a public forum for ethics”
January 31, 2013 • 4:00-5:30 PM
Humanities Building 1, Room 210