PHIL 165.002 – Bioethics

Instructor: Will Kanwischer. This course meets MTWRF 9:45 – 11:15 a.m. via remote synchronous (RS) instruction.

This course serves as an introduction to bioethics. Bioethics is the part of moral philosophy concerned with the ethical dimensions of medicine and the life sciences. Doctors, medical researchers, and health policy-makers are often confronted by difficult moral questions and choices about who should live, who should die, and who has a right to scarce medical resources. Our goal in this course will be to think carefully about these problems using the tools of philosophy. Topics of discussion will include: abortion, euthanasia, our treatment of non-human animals, vaccine mandates, doctor-patient relationships, and whether death is really bad for the one who dies. Each week, we will read and discuss arguments offered by various philosophers in an attempt to develop and defend our own views on these challenging questions. Students will get an opportunity to develop skills in persuasive writing, public speaking, and critical thinking.