Philosophy 281Y
Bioethics
Fall 2006
1160 Bahen Centre Professor Gopal Sreenivasan
MW
(416) 978-2824
There will be three course packages. The first package is now available at the U of T Bookstore on College. It covers all the readings through November 20. The other packages will become available later. Some readings are only available online, as a link from the syllabus on the course webpage.
Assignments
There will be four examinations and two essays (2000 words) over the course of the whole year, an essay and two examinations in each term. Each term there will be an in-class mid-term and an examination during the finals period.
The assignments will carry the following weights:
Essays: 20 % each.
Fall mid-term: 5 %.
Fall end-term examination: 17 %.
Spring mid-term: 5 %.
Final examination: 33 %.
Reading
Schedule
September 11 Introduction.
Medical
ethics
Physician/patient
relationship
S 13 Kass, “Is there a medical ethic?” Towards A More Natural Science (1985), ch. 9.
S 18 Emanuel and Emanuel, “Four Models of the Physician-Patient Relationship,” JAMA 267 (1992): 2221-26.
S 20 Katz, The Silent World of Doctor and Patient (1984), ch. 6.
Gawande, “Whose body is it, anyway?” Complications (2002): 208-27.
Paternalism
& Well-Being
September 25 Feinberg, Harm to Self (1986), ch. 17.
S 27 Parfit, Reasons and Persons (1984), Appendix I.
October 2 Brock and Wartman, “What happens when competent patients make irrational decisions?,” N. Engl. J. Med. 322 (1990): 1995-99.
Feinberg, ch. 19.
O 4 Brock, “Paternalism and Autonomy,” Ethics 98 (1988): 550-65.
O 9 Thanksgiving. No class.
Informed
Consent & Autonomy
O 11 Berg et al., Informed Consent, 2 ed. (2001), chh. 3-4.
P.A. Singer (ed.), Bioethics at the Bedside (1999), chh. 1-2.
O 16 Faden and Beauchamp, History and Theory of Informed Consent (1986), pp. 274-87.
O 18 Mid-term examination. In class.
O 23 Benn,
“Freedom, Autonomy, and the Concept of a Person,” Proceedings of
the Aristotelian Society (1976):
109-30.
O 25 G. Dworkin, Theory and Practice of Autonomy (1988), ch. 7.
O 30 Brock, “Informed Consent,” Life and Death (1993): 21-36 and 43-54.
Refusal
of Treatment
November 1 Film, “Dax’s Case.”
Cowart
and Burt, “Confronting
Death: Who Chooses, Who Controls?,”
Arnold
and Menzel, “When
Comes ‘The End of the Day?,”
N 6 Annas, “When Suicide Prevention Becomes
Brutality: The Case of Elizabeth Bouvia,”
Annas, “Elizabeth Bouvia: Whose Space Is This Anyway?,”
Annas, “Transferring the Ethical Hot Potato,”
Angell, “The Case of Helga Wanglie—A New Kind of ‘Right to Die’ Case,” N. Engl. J. Med. 325 (1991): 511-12.
N 8 Miles,
“Informed Demand for ‘Non-Beneficial’ Medical Treatment,”
N. Engl. J. Med. 325 (1991): 512-15.
Quill, “Death and Dignity—A Case of Individualized Decision Making,” N. Engl. J. Med. 324 (1991): 691-94.
Competence & Surrogate Decision-making
N 13 Faden and Beauchamp, pp. 287-94.
Brock, “Informed Consent,” 36-43.
First essay topics handed out.
N 15 Buchanan and Brock, Deciding for Others (1990): 87-112.
N 20 Buchanan and Brock, 112-151.
Distributive
Justice and Health Care
Universality
of Access
N 22 Williams, “The Idea of Equality,” Problems of the Self (1973), ch. 14.
N 27 Walzer, Spheres of Justice (1983), ch 3.
First essay due in class.
N 29 Daniels, Just Health Care (1985), ch. 2.
December 4 Daniels, ch. 3.
D 6 Sreenivasan,
“Health care and equality of opportunity.”
End of Fall Term. Course
continues in January.
End-term
examination during Fall finals period (D 11-21).
Tutorials
There will be a weekly tutorial in this course with a TA. Tutorials are offered on Mondays from 3-4 (right after class), on Wednesdays from 1-2 (right before class), and also from 3-4 (right after class again).
Please check the webpage for your specific tutorial assignment (e.g., the room).
Office
hours
Sreenivasan Tuesdays
1-3. Room 921,
TAs Daniel
Bader, Katherine Browne, Leanne Garvie, Alex Sinha. Office hours to be announced.
Please do not e-mail your TA for anything. E-mail should be directed to the instructor, who will try to reply in a reasonable time. He is not, however, an e-mail machine.
Late
penalties
Essays submitted after the due date will be penalised one increment of a grade (e.g., from B to B-). Essays submitted a week or more late will be penalised a further increment for each week late.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. It comes in various forms, all of which carry grave penalties. If in doubt about what constitutes plagiarism, ask. You should consult the Philosophy Department’s statement on plagiarism.
Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site.
Writing help
Help in writing is available from the Philosophy Department’s essay clinic. You are also encouraged to consult the Department’s guide to writing a philosophy essay.
11 September 2006