Philosophy 2803-056 – Health Ethics
Arts 1043
Wednesday 7-9:30
Professor: Andrew Latus
Office: Division of Community Health Rm. 2835,
Faculty of Medicine
Telephone: 777-6720
Email: alatus@mun.ca
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday
& Thursday 11-noon.
This course focuses on ethical issues that arise in health care. Some broad topics we will consider include:
- The relationship between health care providers and patients (e.g., what is informed consent and why does it matter morally?)
- Ethical issues that arise in the running of a health care system (e.g., how should we allocate scarce medical resources?)
- Ethical issues raised by new developments in technology (e.g., should genetic engineering or cloning be allowed?)
- The idea of personhood (e.g., what is a person and what does this tell us about practices such as euthanasia?)
- The ethics of medical research (e.g., when, if ever, should medical research on incompetent patients be allowed?)
No previous background in philosophy is assumed. The course will begin with a brief survey of some important philosophical thought about ethics.
Textbook:
Webpage: The
course web page is at http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~alatus/2803-Winter03.html.
Any notes I project on the screen during a lecture will be available on the
webpage, as will most handouts (except when copyright doesn’t allow this). In general, the notes for a class will be posted the day
before the class.
Evaluation:
Quiz – 10% (Jan. 29)
Group Work – 5% (1 point per completed assignment to a maximum of 5)
Midterm – 25% (March 5)
Final Exam/Optional Research Paper – 40% (Date TBA)
Case Study – 20% (Rewrite Deadline = March 19. Final Deadline = April 9)
About the Quiz: The quiz will test your knowledge of the basic ethical concepts introduced during the first two classes. It will consist of questions that can be answered correctly in 3 or 4 sentences. It will be held during the last half of class on Jan. 29.
About the Group Work: Part of most classes will be devoted to a group work assignment. Typically this will involve discussing a case relevant to the night’s topic with a group of 5-6 students. Each group will be required to submit a brief summary of some key points of the discussion by the end of the class. You get one point for each group assignment you take part in up to a maximum of 5 points. If you miss enough classes that it is impossible for you to receive the full 5 points and you have a reasonable medical/personal excuse for missing each of the classes, see me and your grade will be adjusted accordingly.
About the Midterm & Final Exam: More details about these tests will be forthcoming later in the term. Both will likely contain a mixture of essay and short answer questions.
About the Case Study: Much of the course will centre around discussions of medical situations that raise particular ethical issues. This assignment requires you to present a 3-5 page discussion of such a case. Those of you who submit the assignment by March 19 will have the option of revising and resubmitting the paper in order to improve your grade. A detailed handout on this assignment will be distributed by the end of January.
About the Optional Research Paper: You may opt to write a 10-15 page research paper in place of writing the final exam. If
you would like to take advantage of this option, you should see me to discuss
a topic by
* I’m also
hoping to have access to an office in the philosophy department for office
hours before class. I’ll let you know next week.
** Most of my teaching is in the M.D. program and
so doesn’t follow a regular schedule. That means I
can’t promise to always be in my office at these times. When
possible, however, I’ll be in my office then. The
best thing to do is phone ahead. I’m on campus most
days from at least 9-5 and will be happy meet with you at just about any
time I’m not teaching.
