Biomedical Ethics

3 units

Are doctors ever permitted to lie to their patients? Should physician-assisted suicide be legal? Should governments require their citizens to get vaccinated against common diseases? Is race-based medicine unjustified because race is a social construction? Should medical researchers be allowed to edit the human genome? Is there such a thing as a male or female brain? These are among the questions addressed in biomedical ethics. In this course we will critically examine, in light of contemporary moral disagreements and traditional ethical theories, some of the philosophical issues that arise out of medical practice and research in our society, including questions about specific policies and practices as well as broader questions about the implications of contemporary medicine, biology, and neuroscience. Topics may include euthanasia, genetic engineering, abortion, disability, medical malpractice, informed consent, the allocation of medical resources, patient autonomy, gender-affirming care, and health care as a human right. The course presupposes no background in philosophy.