Topics in Ethics
Prerequisite: Students must have taken at least two philosophy courses.
This course studies a particular topic selected from the field of ethics.
Outcomes: Students will be able to understand and articulate a deeper awareness of philosophical problems and answers to questions regarding the selected topic.
Critical Approaches Bioethics
Prerequisite: Students must have taken at least two philosophy courses.
This course studies a particular topic selected from the field of ethics.
Outcomes: Students will be able to understand and articulate a deeper awareness of philosophical problems and answers to questions regarding the selected topic.
Prerequisite: Students must have taken at least two philosophy courses.
Bioethics is largely guided by the four principles of biomedical ethics: justice, autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence -- and by philosophical theories like Kant¿s ethics and utilitarianism. These traditional approaches to doing bioethics emphasize values such as objectivity, universality and impartiality. However, some bioethicists have questioned the application of these moral frameworks to address problems in bioethics, noting the way they overlook important issues of race, gender, disability, and LGTBQ+ status. These critics have argued that we need approaches that recognize the body and its relation to the way others view and treat us in health care. From this we have seen the development of critical approaches to bioethics, including Black bioethics, feminist bioethics, disability bioethics, and queer bioethics. This course will consider these bioethical approaches to better understand how they capture concerns about racism, sexism, ableism, and heterosexism in medicine. We will read a variety of articles by bioethicists ¿at the margins¿ who raise these critiques with concern for minorities, women, disabled, and queer patients. We will also consider various applications of these critical approaches to bioethics in contexts such as: assisted reproduction, dying and death, genetic testing, abortion, and other concerns.
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