PHIL 322 Biomedical Ethics

Overview of Course

Medicine is part of each of our lives. We have all been a patient, a consumer who has purchased over-the-counter medications, or a care-taker or friend of someone who is a patient or client of a health care professional. And some wish to pursue a career in health care upon graduating. Given this, how might we think about and respond to ethical issues that inevitably occur in medicine today? On a Semester at Sea voyage to diverse cultural destinations, what can we learn about navigating biomedical ethical dilemmas as we study them in their global and local contexts?
The course explores theoretical and practical issues in biomedical ethics. It involves students in (1) studying main concepts (e.g., patient rights, patient best interest, justice in health care) and approaches (e.g., rights-based, care-based, communal-based, faith-based) in the field of biomedical ethics and (2) developing and justifying ethical decisions about prominent case studies in medicine. On the minds of those traveling as we do, are there unifying themes in biomedical ethics in a global context? Are there radical differences? How do we navigate the differences and reframe options? Readings are provided by western and eastern biomedical ethicists and are complemented by case studies drawn from the countries and cultures we visit. In the course, students consider questions concerning biomedical ethics in a global comparative context and, in so doing, gain experience in thinking critically, reasoning carefully, and writing and speaking thoughtfully and empathetically about ethical matters in medicine.