Bioethics

Bioethics is a huge field of study in applied or practical ethics. In this course, we’re going to delve into some of the classic and pressing problems in this field, with the help of some theoretical tools that might help us to make sense of these problems. We’ll look at concrete topics such as abortion, euthanasia, kidney donation, surrogacy, and human enhancement, and also consider more abstract ethical problems, like whether and when paternalism is permissible, whether the “greater good” can ever trump individual interests, and how important self-determination is (and what it is exactly). We’ll be utilising theories such as deontology, consequentialism and virtue ethics, as well as approaches that are more popular within bioethics, like a “principle-based” approach.

LAS and TCS students who follow this course as part of the core curriculum of their major, need to complete a compulsory preparation course/assignment . See for more information: https://tcs.sites.uu.nl/

Course Aims:
• Become familiar with some of the main debates in bioethics.
• Further develop your ability to make use of ethical theories in specific cases.
• Enhance ability to develop your own considered position on these issues, and submit these positions to critical scrutiny e.g. by identifying strong counterarguments.
• Develop abilities to evaluate and critically engage with philosophical arguments.

We strongly recommend that you take this course as part of the minor "Ethics in Modern Society". If you have no philosophical background at all before taking this course, be assured that you won't be alone, and we will try to start from the beginning in the first lecture, but if you still feel lost after the first couple of sessions, talk to the lecturer!

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