PHIL3211: Biomedical Ethics Past and Present

• Either Moral Theory (PHIL2041) or Philosophy of Science (PHIL2151) or History, Science and Medicine (PHIL2191).

• At least one other 'Year 3' module in Philosophy.

• None

• To understand biomedical ethics in historical and present contexts and to see how ethical standards have developed in certain fields of Western Medicine.

• The following main topics will typically be studied: professional conduct and its codifications from the Hippocratic oath to the codes of the nineteenth century and the General Medical Council, the controversy over animal experimentation since the seventeenth century, the development of guidelines for research on human beings, changing attitudes towards death and euthanasia, abortion and reproductive technologies, the issues of informed consent and medical confidentiality.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module students will have knowledge and understanding of the historical aspects and current key arguments regarding the following ethical issues in medicine:
• Codes of professional medical conduct
• Animal experimentation
• Research on Human Subjects
• Death and Euthanasia
• Abortion and Reproduction
• Informed Consent
• Medical Confidentiality

Subject-specific Skills:

• grasp, analyse, evaluate and deploy subject-specific concepts and arguments
• locate, understand, assess and utilise pertinent philosophical and historical sources
• Interpret and criticise relevant texts.

Key Skills:

• express themselves clearly and succinctly in writing and discussion
• comprehend complex ideas, propositions and theories
• defend their opinions by reasoned argument
• seek out and identify appropriate sources of evidence and information
• tackle problems in a clear-sighted and logical fashion

• Seminars will provide the opportunity for students to present their own work in progress, to test their understanding of the course material, and defend and debate different opinions on theories and questions presented in that material.
• Guided reading provides a structure within which students exercise and extend their abilities to make use of available learning resources.
• The summative essays test knowledge and understanding of the course material, and the ability to identify and explain philosophical questions raised by the natural and medical sciences, and, using relevant research material, to present relevant philosophical theories and arguments that claim to answer those questions, and to make reasoned judgements on the merits and demerits of such theories.

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