Introduction to Ethical Theory

3 Credits.

Explores the relationship between philosophical ethical theory and the practical world of bioethics. In particular, examines the classical accounts of moral obligation and virtue in the context of a variety of contemporary bioethical problems. Further presents the distinction between individual bioethics and collective bioethics, with the goal of determining how the theoretical grounding for these fields differ. The motivating questions are both methodological and substantive: First, how does theory contribute to bioethical investigations? And second, does reflection on ethical theory tell us what to do concerning particular, bioethical problems?