PHIL 228
Feminist Bioethics
Last Offered Fall 2006
Division II Writing Skills
Cross-listed WGST 228 / PHIL 228
This course is not offered in the current catalog or this is a previous listing for a current course.

In this course we will explore the ways in which feminist approaches to moral thinking have influenced both the methodology and the content of contemporary bioethics. The first portion of the course will address the emergence of the “Ethics of Care,” critically assessing its origins in feminist theory, its development within the context of the caring professions, and its potential as a general approach to bioethical reasoning. The second portion of the course will use feminist philosophy to inform our understanding of the ways in which gender structures the individual’s interactions with the health care system. To do this, we will explore topics that might traditionally be considered “women’s issues” in health care, such as medicine and body image (e.g., cosmetic surgery, eating disorders), reproductive and genetic technologies, and research on women and their health care needs. In addition we will also look at feminist analyses of topics that traditionally haven’t been identified as particularly gender specific, such as resource allocation and end of life issues.