The Ethics Cup started as a project of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at The University of St. Andrews in 2018.
The Cup has two aims: to promote interest in philosophy among secondary school students and to model and promote civil discourse on issues of public concern. It is not a traditional debating tournament but is instead designed to reward the ability to thoughtfully advance discussions of contentious ethical issues. Students compete in teams to address contemporary ethical controversies such as the banning of books from private libraries, nuclear deterrence, and potential harms of ‘true crime’ entertainment.
In December the University hosted pupils from seven different schools in a day-long event with George Heriot’s School emerging victorious moving on to the June 10 final in St. Andrews, where they will compete against schools from throughout the UK.