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
The Wishes of the Dead
Yvonne and Zaina have been married for years, until Yvonne passed away and made 3 wishes before her death. One, for Zaina to never drink coffee again, due to her believing this was the cause for her terminal illness without any proof. Two, Yvonne wants the money she left to be dedicated towards research on the negative effects of coffee. Third, Zaina can never marry again. After years of following through with her promise, Zaina begins to wonder if there's any point to the silly demands, especially since she has found a new love interest who is ready to be married. Would Zaina be wrong to break her promises?
Deception in Dementia Care
Amara works in a dementia care home, where the patients are in various degrees of physical and cognitive decline. Barry suffers from dementia and can’t remember his wife died years ago. Amara wonders whether she should lie to him. Some think that lying to patients with dementia is inappropriate, but others defend lying in dementia care by saying that the diminished mental capacity of dementia patients justifies it. Are there circumstances in which we are morally required to lie to dementia patients?