CASE Library
Explore The Issues that Matter.
We excitedly invite you to browse, search, and explore our newly redesigned library of over 300 case studies which render some of the most complex and controversial moral and political issues of our time. These cases were formerly used for official NHSEB competitions at the Regional, Divisional, and National Championship levels. They are freely available for public use under Creative Commons licenses.
The NHSEB Case Library is an excellent tool for competitive preparation, internal or intramural competition, or beyond the context of the Ethics Bowl activity completely—as a classroom resource for Grades 9-12 and beyond.
Featured Cases
NAVIGATING THE LIBRARY
NHSEB’s Case Library is now fully browsable by individual case, or by Case Set—using the filters below. Or, if you already know a bit about what you’re looking for, the entire library of over 300 Ethics Bowl cases is newly indexed, referenced, and searchable by title, topic, keyword, year, and category. Each individual case entry contains the full text of the case and discussion questions as they originally appeared for competitive use, all references assembled in hyperlinked footnotes, and additional contextual resources curated by NHSEB HQ.
CASE SET COLLECTION
FIND AN ETHICS BOWL CASE
ATTRIBUTION AND CITATION
All National High School Ethics Bowl cases are the intellectual property of the Parr Center for Ethics, and all are freely available for public use under Creative Commons licenses once retired from use in NHSEB competitions. This library represents thousands of hours of work from our Contributing Authors, Editors, and others. Please do not reproduce NHSEB cases or sets—in part or in whole—without attribution, or modify the text of individual cases or sets. If you reproduce or make reference to NHSEB cases from this library (e.g., in classroom materials, academic papers, etc.), please attribute and/or cite those materials:
National High School Ethics Bowl (Ed.), <YEAR>. “<Case Title>.” National High School Ethics Bowl Case Library. UNC Parr Center for Ethics: Chapel Hill, NC. http://nhseb.org/case-library
Browse The Library
Sperm of the Dead
A recent widow wants to have a child with her deceased husband's sperm. Some of his family members are uneasy about this and argue that she does not own or have a right to his sperm. Husband and wife had previously agreed that they would like to have a child together. How relevant should their prior conversations be in this decision? How relevant should his family's opinion be? Would it make a difference if her husband's religious beliefs precluded organ donation after death?
Non-Human Animals in Biomedical Research
Biomedical experiments often use nonhuman animals as test subjects. This can lead to important scientific advances but exposes research subjects to injury/death without the possibility of consent. How should we compare the value of scientific knowledge with the wellbeing of nonhuman research subjects?
Anti-Depressants for Mentally-Ill Animals
What responsibility do humans have to treat mental illness in non-human animals? Given that animals cannot "consent" to taking drugs, is giving them psychiatric drugs immoral?