PY428-6-SP-CO:
Philosophy and Medical Ethics
2018/19
Philosophy
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Monday 14 January 2019
Friday 22 March 2019
15
-
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA VV56 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics,
BA VV58 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV59 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA VV5P Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MV16 Law with Philosophy,
LLB MV18 Law with Philosophy (Including Year Abroad),
LLB MV19 Law with Philosophy (Including Placement Year)
Module Outline (updated 08.05.18)
This module will introduce students to a wide range of philosophical questions that are raised by everyday medical practice and recent developments in medical science. It will show how the resources of moral philosophy and philosophy more widely can help us to develop a better understanding of these questions, and enable us to critically assess the ways in which these issues are currently dealt with. The exact range of topics addressed will vary from year to year. Amongst the issues explored in this module will be questions of life and death, questions raised by bringing people into existence (reproductive medicine, cloning etc.), just resource allocation (between patients and on the level of healthcare budgets), the ethics of medical research, the ethics of confidentiality, informed consent and patient autonomy, the ethics of enhancement, and the future of human nature. Finally, this module will familiarise students with Foucault’s notion of “biopolitics” and explore its relevance for developing a critical understanding of the context in which medical-ethical questions arise.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
1. identify the ethical and philosophical issues raised by a selection of medical matters;
2. explain the debates concerning these issues;
3. critically assess the merits of the conflicting arguments.
By the end of the module, students should also have acquired a set of transferable skills, and in particular be able to:
1. define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant;
2. seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information;
3. process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments;
4. compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure;
5. write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications;
6. be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them;
7. think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present these clearly rather than as vague hunches;
8. maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong;
9. think critically and constructively.
No information available.
No information available.
No additional information available.
1 x two hour lecture and discussion session each week followed by a one-hour seminar at which issues covered in the lecture will be discussed in more detail. Week 21 is Reading Week.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Presentation of Secondary Literature |
|
35% |
| Coursework |
200 Word Reading Response (Week 17) |
|
|
| Coursework |
200 Word Reading Response (Week 18) |
|
|
| Coursework |
200 Word Reading Response (Week 19) |
|
|
| Coursework |
200 Word Reading Response (Week 20) |
|
|
| Coursework |
200 Word Reading Response (Week 22) |
|
|
| Coursework |
200 Word Reading Response (Week 23) |
|
|
| Coursework |
200 Word Reading Response (Week 24) |
|
|
| Coursework |
200 Word Reading Response (Week 25) |
|
|
| Coursework |
Essay (3000 words) |
|
50% |
| Practical |
Best of 3 Reading Responses Average |
|
15% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Joerg Schaub, email: jschaub@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Joerg Schaub
spahinfo@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
No
Dr Thomas Joseph Stern
University College London
Senior Lecturer
Available via Moodle
Of 36 hours, 36 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
Philosophy
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