PHI 1933: Honors Freshman Seminar in Bioethics
Prof. Daniel White
Office: HC 146
Email: dwhite@fau.edu; telephone x6-8651
Office Hours T & R 11:30-12:30; 2:00-4:00
W 2:00-4:00; or by appointment

Course Description & Objectives: Honors Bioethics we will explore philosophical issues arising from the interaction of biological sciences, technology, and social policy. We will critically examine ethical questions arising from abortion, reproduction, gene therapy, eugenics, life and death, health care resource allocation, organ donation, experimentation with animals and humans, confidentiality, truth telling and the roles of ethicists in medicine and biological research. We will focus on critical thinking and philosophical argumentation through class readings, discussion, writing, and presentation. Consideration of film and literature will enhance our study of key ethical issues. By the end of this class you should have acquired a meaningful grasp of basic issues in bioethics including key positions and arguments in the field, the ethical theories on which they are based, the terms in which they are typically stated, and the kinds of examples from which they arise. You should also have developed your skills in critical discussion, essay writing, and oral presentation. Overall you should have acquired the knowledge and skills to participate responsibly in contemporary bioethical debates. Important related issues such as animal rights and environmental ethics are included in PHI 3682: Environmental Philosophy, taught next in spring 2011.

Course Requirements & Grades:
1) a series of six critical essays 500 words in length totaling 50% of final grade.
2) a final essay 1500 words in length totaling 20% of final grade.
3) a group presentation totaling 20% of final grade.
4) class participation (attendance and quality of daily preparation and discussion) totaling 10% of final grade.

Required Texts:
Singer, Peter and Helge Kuhse, Bioethics: An Anthology, 2nd Edition (NY/London: Blackwell, 2006) ISBN: 978-1-4051-2948-0)
Ishiguro, Kazuo, Never Let me Go (New York: Random/ Vintage, 2005; ISBN 978-1-400-7877-6)
Blackboard Readings (BB): online in Blackboard
Online readings linked to syllabus

Honor Code

By enrolling in this course you agree to abide by the Wilkes Honors College college’s Honor Code: http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/academics_honor_code.htm.

Papers must be your own work, and sources of your work must be cited in an approved documentation style.

Weekly Assignments

Week 1/ August 25
Introduction: Biotechnology, Ethics, & the Human Prospect
Interview: Michael Pollan speaks on egg recall; Michael Pollan: Food Rules; Michael Pollan: The Omnivore's Dilemma; Understanding Animal Research; Vivisection Overview; William Hogarth, The Four Stages of Cruelty;

Health, medicine, diet, and animal rights. Reading: Bioethics, Introduction; the ethics of experimentation with animals. Reading; Bioethics essay 62 Immanuel Kant, “Duties Towards Animals”; 63 Jeremy Bentham, “A Utilitarian View”; 64 Singer, “All Animals are Equal”; recommended, Michael Pollan, An Animal’s Place | Michael Pollan; for Food Industry criticisms of Michael Pollan see: Michael Pollan Wikipedia (final section and bibliographic-links); Recommended, Bioethics 65, “Vivisection, Morals, and Medicine: An Exchange.”

Week 2/ September 1

PBS: Frontline: The Last Abortion Clinic--Abortion Wars
Before Life: 1 John Finnis, “Abortion A & Healthcare Ethics”;

2 Michael Tooley, “Abortion and Infanticide”; 3 Judith Jarvis Thomson,

“A Defense of Abortion”; 4 Don Marquis “Why Abortion is Immoral”; 5 Laura M. Purdy “Are Pregnant Women Fetal Containers?”

Week 3/ September 8

Essay I Due
Issues in Reproduction; Assisted Reproduction: NPR: The Rhetoric That Shaped The Abortion Debate; PBS: Public Genomes; In Vitro Fertilization: IVF : American Pregnancy Association; Baby M; NOVA: Cracking the Code of Life;
6 Gregory E. Pence, “The McCaughey Septuplets: God’s Will or Human Choice?”
7 Laura M. Purdy, Surrogate Mothering: Exploitation or Empowerment?
8 Susan Dodds and Karen Jones, “A Response to Purdy.”

Week 4/ September 15

Essay 2 Due: in Class

Prenatal Screening, Sex Selection and Cloning: 11 Laura Purdy, “Can Having Children be Immoral?”; 12 Adrienne Asch, “Prenatal Diagnosis and Selective Abortion: A Challenge to Practice and Policy”; 13 Ruth Chadwick and Mairi Levitt, “Genetic Technology: A Threat to Deafness”; 14 Julian Savulescu, “Sex Selection: The Case For.” PBS: WGBH American Experience . Test Tube Babies | PBS;
What is Amniocentesis? Spina Bifida? Chorionic villus sampling? What is Contractarianism? Consequentialism and Utilitarianism? Utilitarianism; Deontological Ethics?

Week 5/ September 22

Prenatal Screening, Sex Selection and Cloning cont’d: 15 John A. Robertson, Jeffrey P. Kahn, and John E. Wagner, “Conception to Obtain Hematopoietic Stem Cells”; 16 David King, “Why we should not permit embryos to be selected as tissue donors”; 17 Michael Tooley, “The Moral Status of the Cloning of Humans.” PBS: NOVA: Cracking the Code of Life; What is a Chromosome?

Appeals Court Lifts Injunction Against Stem-Cell Research; What is HLA Matching: Finding the Best Donor or Cord Blood Unit? What is HFEA - Fertility, Infertility, IVF, Embryo research - Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority? Kant Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals; Kant's Moral Philosophy; John Rawls Veil of Ignorance; Whitaker Case: 'Designer baby' born to UK couple, Jamie Whitaker: Designer baby transplant success; Human Cloning; Cloning Process .

Week 6/ September 29

Essay 3 Part 1 In class

The New Genetics Introduction; Gene Therapy and Eugenics: 18 Jonathan Glover, “Questions About Some Uses of Genetic Engineering”; 19 Mark Lappe, “Ethical Issues in Manipulating the Human Germ Line”; 20 David B. Resnik, “The Moral Significance of the Therapy-Enhancement Distinction in Human Genetics.” PBS: Stem Cells: Early Research; Stem Cells: 2006 Update; What Is Evo Devo?; The Covenant by Peter J. Boyer. Terms: Germinal epithelium (female); Germinal epithelium (male); An Introduction to Recombinant DNA; Recombinant DNA; Pronucleus; Blastocyst definition; Neural plate; Neural crest; Oöcyte; Transfected cells; Court OKs US-Funded Stem Cell Research For Now : NPR. Cracking the Code of Life;

Week 7/ October 6
Essay 3 Part 2 In class

The New Genetics, cont’d: 21 Ainsley Newson & Robert Williamson, “Should we Undertake Genetic Research on Intelligence?”; Genetic Screening and Counseling: 22 Benno Mueller-Hill, “Lessons from a Dark and Distant Past”; 24 Dena S. Davis, “Genetic Dilemmas and the Child’s Right to an Open Future”; Frontline: a class divided: watch the program | PBS

NOVA | Becoming Human Part 3

Week 8/ October 13

Life and Death Issues Introduction; 25 Jonathan Glover, “ The Sanctity of Life”; 27 Germain Grisez and Joseph M. Boyle, Jr ., “The Morality of Killing: A Traditional View”; FILM: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Recommended: The Sea Inside

Week 9/ October 20

Essay 4 In class; Prospectus for Oral Presentation due.
28 James Rachels, “Active and Passive Euthanasia”; 29 Winston Nesbitt, “Is Killing No Worse Than Letting Die?”; 30 Helga Kuhse, “Why Killing is Not Always Worse – And Sometimes Better – than Letting Die.”: FRONTLINE: the suicide tourist | PBS

Week 10/ October 27

Resource Allocation: Introduction; Micro-Allocation: Deciding Between Patients: 43 Paul T. Menzel, “Rescuing Lives: Can’t We Count?”; 44 Nicholas Rescher,

“The Allocation of Exotic Medical Lifesaving Therapy”; 45 Alvin H. Moss & Mark Siegler, “Should Alcoholics Compete Equally for Liver Transplantation?”; 46 John Harris, “The Value of Life”; 47 Robert M. Veatch,” How Age Should Matter: Justice as the Basis for Limiting Care to the Elderly.” FRONTLINE: sick around the world | PBS; Organ Transplants in Germany; Drive for more organ donors in Germany

Week 11/ November 3

Essay 5 In Class

Organ Donation: Introduction; 50 Richard M. Titmus, “Why Give to Strangers?”; 51 Elke-Henner W. Kluge, “Organ Retrieval: Whose Body is it Anyway?” 52 Janet Radcliffe-Richards et al., “The Case for Allowing Kidney Sales”; 53 John Harris, “The Survival Lottery.” FRONTLINE: Obama’s Deal (Healthcare);

Literary Interlude: Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, chs. 1-3. BB: Keith McDonald, “Days of Past Futures: Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go as ‘Speculative Memoir’” Biography, Volume 30, Number 1 (Winter 2007).pp. 74-83. Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go to premiere at London film festival | Books | The Guardian.

Week 12/ November 10
Experimentation with Humans: Introduction; Human Subjects:

54 Henry K. Beecher,“ Ethics and Clinical Research”; 55 Benjamin Freedman, “Equipoise and the Ethics of Clinical Research”;.56 Samuel Hellman, “The Patient and the Public Good”; 57 Torbjorn Tannsjo, “The Morality of Research: A Case Study;” The Helsinki Declaration: Ethical Principles of Medical Research; Ploidy; Oncogene; Histologic Grades in Breast Cancer; Grading (tumors). Film: Das experiment
Literary Interlude cont’d: Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, chs. 4-9. Discussion groups.

Week 13/November 17

Human experimentation cont’d. Film: Das experiment; 67 Immanuel Kant , “On a Supposed Right to Lie from Altruistic Motives”; 68 Joseph Collins, “Should Doctors Tell the Truth?”;

Literary Interlude: Never Let Me Go, chs. 10-15; Discussion groups on Never Let me go and critical articles: (also see week 11): BB Marvin Mirsky, “Notes on Reading Katzuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go,” Perspectives in Biology & Medicine Volume 49, Number 4 (Autumn 2006), pp. 628-630: BB: Rachel Carroll, “Imitations of life: cloning, heterosexuality and the human in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never let me go,” Journal of Gender Studies Vol. 19, No. 1 (March 2010), pp. 59–71; Gabriele Griffin, “Science and the Cultural Imaginary: the Case of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go” Textual Practice Volume 23, Number (2009), pp. 645–663. Heteronormativity.

Week 14/ November 24
Truth-Telling: NPR--Listen: Drug Companies Hire Troubled Doctors As Experts; 69 Roger Higgs, “On Telling Patients the Truth”; 75 Ruth Macklin, “The Doctor Patient Relationship in Different Cultures.” Literary Interlude complete: Never Let Me Go, chs. 16-23 (end); Discussion groups on Never Let Me Go and aforementioned critical articles.
Discussion groups.

Week 15/ December 1
Oral Presentations; Essay 6 on Literature and Ethics: Ishiguro due (written out of class).

Exam Week/ December 8
Oral Presentations during Exam Period
Final Essay Due