SACE Stage 2 Philosophy case studies
SACE Stage 2 Philosophy · Put your knowledge to work in context.
SACE Stage 2 Philosophy is a 20-credit Year 12 subject (code 2PPS20) in the South Australian Certificate of Education, offered by the SACE Board of South Australia. It suits students who want to examine questions about existence, knowledge and ethics - questions the Board itself describes as having no simple answers - and who are willing to argue about them carefully rather than memorise a settled body of doctrine. The SACE Stage 2 Philosophy case studies are 5 cases and about 2,949 words.
1The Ethics Committee and the Placebo Trial
A hospital ethics committee must decide whether to approve a trial for a new anti-nausea drug in 200 patients with a chronic condition. Standard treatment exists but is only partly effective; it costs 40 per dose and causes drowsiness.
602 words, about 3 min2The Watchmaker's Argument Under Pressure
A student presents a design argument: a watch found on a heath implies a watchmaker, so the ordered universe implies a designer. She adds three premises: (P1) wherever we observe complex functional order, it is produced by intelligence; (P2) the universe contains complex functional order; (P3) therefore the universe was probably produced by intelligence.
581 words, about 3 min3The Fallacy in the Council Debate
A local council debates a 20 km/h speed limit near two schools. Councillor A says: 'Every resident I have spoken to supports the limit, so the town supports it.' Councillor B replies: 'You spoke to 30 people at the school gate.
553 words, about 3 min4Justifying a Whistleblower's Decision
A junior engineer at a water utility discovers that lead readings at 12 sampling points were replaced with older, lower values before a report went to the regulator. Her manager says the discrepancy is a rounding issue and that raising it will cost her job and delay a planned upgrade that would fix the pipes anyway.
596 words, about 3 min5Two Students Disagree About Moral Truth
In a seminar, Mei argues that torturing a child for entertainment is wrong regardless of what any culture believes. Jo argues that moral judgements are just expressions of feeling, so Mei's claim is only her preference and carries no more weight than anyone else's.
617 words, about 3 min