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
REGIONAL CASE SETS
2023-2024 | 2022-2023 | 2021-2022 | 2020-2021 | 2019-2020 | 2018-2019
2017-2018 | 2016-2017 | 2015-2016 | 2014-2015 | 2013-2014 | 2012-2013
National CASE SETS
2023-2024 | 2022-2023 | 2021-2022 | 2020-2021 | 2019-2020 | 2018-2019
2017-2018 | 2016-2017 | 2015-2016 | 2014-2015 | 2013-2014 | 2012-2013
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
Wilding Out
Privatized adoption has long been seen as an act of selflessness, but in more recent years, issues have arisen about the ethics of how the private adoption industry operates. Many worry that these adoption agencies allow for the “shopping” of children, filtering by race, disability, sex, and age, and that agencies may take advantage of women who may struggle to care for their kids to allow them to be adopted instead. Proponents of the industry say that it is an efficient way to give kids in need families.
Killer Art
The arrival of postmodern art has brought with it many controversial pieces of art. Some of these art pieces have included physical harm to people, the death of animals, and the destruction of ancient art. These led to an international debate over what is art and what should be limited. If art is limited, it could potentially protect certain thoughts, ideals, or even people and animals. However, if art is limited, it restricts the avenues that artists can use in order to convey a message.
Breed-Specific Legislation
BSL refers to legislation or policy that bans or restricts certain breeds of dogs that are purported to be more aggressive. People that support BSL think that it will help to reduce dog attacks, while opponents of BSL think that it is unjustified. Is BSL morally permissible? If this kind of discrimination is morally wrong when applied to humans, is it wrong to apply it to animals? Are some versions of BSL more morally acceptable than others?
Bodily Identity Integrity Disorder
Jewel Shuping has BIID and has always wanted to be blind. BIID is a rare condition characterized by a conflict between a person's actual, physical body and their idea of how their body should be. Is it in the interest of someone with BIID to give them the body modification they want? If they are at serious risk of harming themselves, should doctors perform these modifications? Do BIID patients harm themselves by going through these modifications?
Moral Offsetting
Can you balance harms that you cause by donating to charities that address those harms? When is moral offsetting appropriate and inappropriate?
Stand Your Ground
The Texas "Stand Your Ground" laws allow deadly force in cases of self-defense and don't require individuals to try to retreat from danger prior to "protecting" themselves. Legal protection for self-defense homicides increased the number of self-defense homicides, murder, and manslaughter. Are these laws ethical?