CAT 2: Biomedical Ethics
Gerald Doppelt
Syllabus: CAT2_WI12_Doppelt_Syllabus.pdf
In this course, we will explore central ethical and political issues raised by scientific and technological advance, and by the exercise of power in determining how it is used, and who decides. We will pay special attention to concrete contexts of political controversy in bio-medicine surrounding the morality of abortion, the right to die, the authority of patients and medical professionals in treatment decisions, the right distribution of medical care among the members of society, the risks of the human genome project, genetic testing and engineering, and the pursuit of the eugenically perfect human being. How do professionals, lay actors, social movements, technical innovations, legal developments, and new moral understandings interact to chart our vision of a future with richer human possibilities?
This course will aim to bring students into these current ethical and scientific debates surrounding biomedicine; and to assume responsibility for acting to affect the cultural beliefs and attitudes that shape these debates and us as moral decision makers.
