PHIL 213
Biomedical Ethics
Spring 2025
Division II
W Writing Skills
Class Details
Much like the construction of medical knowledge itself, it is from specific cases that general principles of biomedical ethics arise and are systematized into a theoretical framework, and it is to cases they must return, if they are to be both useful and comprehensible to those making decisions within the biomedical context. In this tutorial we will exploit this characteristic of biomedical ethics by using a case-based approach to examining core concepts of the field. The first portion of the course will be devoted to developing and understanding four moral principles which have come to be accepted as canonical: respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. The remainder of the course will consider key concepts at the core of medical ethics and central issues for the field, such as privacy and confidentiality, the distinction between killing and “letting die,” and therapy vs. research. To this end, each week we will (1) read philosophical material focused on one principle or concept, and (2) consider in detail one bioethics case in which the principle or concept has special application or relevance. In some weeks, students will be asked to choose from a small set which case they would like to address; in others the case will be assigned.
The Class:
Format: tutorial
Limit: 10
Expected: 10
Class#: 3520
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Limit: 10
Expected: 10
Class#: 3520
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation:
bi-weekly papers, oral commentaries, and tutorial discussions
Prerequisites:
none
Enrollment Preferences:
PHIL majors, PHLH concentrators, those who have a curricular need for the course, those who have been dropped from the course in previous semesters due to over enrollment
Distributions:
Divison II
Writing Skills
WS Notes:
Students will write five tutorial papers of 5-7 pages in length, one of which they will revise and resubmit. In each of the tutorial papers students will describe and evaluate arguments that appear in the assigned readings, and will develop arguments in support of their own ethical positions. Students will receive written and oral feedback, concentrated particularly in the first half of the semester, to improve their ability to present clear and effective written arguments.
Attributes:
PHIL Contemporary Value Theory Courses
PHLH Bioethics + Interpretations of Health
PHLH Bioethics + Interpretations of Health
Class Grid
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PHIL 213 - T1 (S) TUT Biomedical Ethics
PHIL 213 - T1 (S) TUT Biomedical EthicsDivision II W Writing SkillsTBA3520OpenNone