Everybody Has Ethics Questions: Submit Them for the Slam!

All questions featured in the Big Ethical Question Slam come from the public. That's you!  Without your questions, the Big Ethical Question Slam would not happen.

Start pondering. Ethical quandaries are everywhere. Are there dilemmas that intrigue or trouble you?  Predicaments and situations that you can turn into a question to learn what others in the community think about them? Then ask away! 

To get you going and your ideas flowing, consider a few previous Slam questions:

• What morally entitles us to have free speech? Do we also have a moral duty to listen if we live in a democracy? Are there limits to a duty to listen?
• If a colleague comes to work drunk, should you cover for him? 
• If we decide to have armed guards in elementary schools, what are the ethical issues? 
• Must we always forgive someone for an action when they feel remorse and apologize for it?
• If a patient is violent, under what circumstances is it permissible for a health care professional to decline caring for that patient? 

For all questions used since the first Slam in 2011, you are welcome to go to the Slam Question Archive for additional inspiration.

Other guidelines that can help you focus on "the ethics" of a question:

• Explore an occupation or profession and the ethics of their particular work. Examples: business, education, technology, sports, health care, law enforcement, retail, engineering. The possibilities are endless.
• Concepts are also a rich source for ethics questions. Examples: trust, kindness, justice, forgiveness, obligations, freedom, diligence, debt, honor, care, courage, rights. The possibilities are infinite.
• Ethics questions have no clear cut right answer. Reasonable arguments can support multiple perspectives. They often "pull" us in opposite or conflicting directions. And ethical questions involve making judgments and decisions. 
• Ethics questions for the Slam are not case studies or stories. Express what you want to ask in 150 words or less.

 You can submit a question anytime by using the form below.

One of the Slam's many goals is to encourage teams to talk afterward--and to continue talking even after the event is over. On Slam night, we are coming together to launch ethics discussions and to give teams an opportunity to share ideas with other ethics and philosophy enthusiasts on other teams and the audience. In fact, Slam fans tell us that they go to the Slam Question Archive to start other discussions with friends at events outside the Slam. We are all for it!