Philosophical Bioethics

3 Units

The purpose of this seminar is to learn methods and develop skills necessary to do high-quality philosophical bioethics. Bioethics is, of course, an irreducibly multi-disciplinary endeavor. But to the extent that the defining task of bioethics is to ask and answer normative questions that arise in the course of biomedical practice and research, philosophy is an indispensable element. To do philosophical bioethics is to put front and center conceptual and normative issues in bioethics. And to productively address such issues requires certain tools. In this course, we'll identify, develop, and sharpen those tools, and then put them to use by critically engaging with contemporary work in philosophical bioethics.