COURSE DESCRIPTION
This doctoral-level course provides a rigorous, interdisciplinary examination of the theoretical foundations, core principles, and pressing contemporary issues in bioethics. Students will critically engage with classic and cutting-edge debates across clinical ethics, research ethics, public health ethics, and the ethics of emerging biotechnologies. Key topics include the four-principles framework (principlism) and its critics, informed consent and patient autonomy, end-of-life decision-making, justice in healthcare allocation, research ethics with human subjects, ethical issues in reproduction and genetics, neuroethics, and the ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence in medicine and global health emergencies. The course integrates philosophical analysis with case-based reasoning, preparing students to identify, analyze, and resolve ethical dilemmas in healthcare, biomedical research, and health policy.
COURSE TEACHING OBJECTIVES
- Critically analyze the major normative frameworks in bioethics, including principlism, deontology, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and care ethics, and evaluate their application to concrete dilemmas.
- Apply the core principles of respect for autonomy, beneficence, non‑maleficence, and justice to case studies in clinical, research, and public health settings.
- Assess the moral and legal dimensions of informed consent, decisional capacity, surrogate decision‑making, and advance care planning.
- Evaluate competing justifications and objections regarding physician‑assisted dying, euthanasia, withdrawal of life‑sustaining treatment, and palliative care.
- Synthesize ethical frameworks to address issues in research ethics (vulnerable populations, informed consent, placebo controls), reproductive ethics (assisted reproduction, surrogacy, prenatal testing), genetic and neuro‑ethics, and justice in healthcare allocation.
COURSE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Articulate the central arguments of principlism, utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, and care ethics, and identify their strengths and limitations for practical bioethical reasoning.
- Analyze a clinical ethics case using the four‑principles framework, specifying how each principle applies and how conflicts among principles can be resolved.
- Critique a research protocol’s protections for human subjects, identifying potential ethical violations and proposing remedies.
- Formulate a well‑reasoned position on a controversial bioethical issue (e.g., physician‑assisted dying, germline gene editing, or resource allocation during a pandemic) supported by ethical arguments and relevant empirical evidence.
- Develop a research proposal or policy analysis that integrates bioethical principles and regulatory requirements for a specific domain (e.g., clinical ethics consultation, research ethics review, or public health policy).
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE STUDIES
The course is organized into five study periods (approx. 2 weeks each, though self‑paced). Each period includes intensive reading of the assigned textbook(s), viewing of the supplementary video(s), and a short response paper or reflective assignment (500–1,000 words) reflecting on the material and its application. Students must contact the instructor for feedback after each period.
ASSESSMENT AND GRADING
Response papers / period assignments: 50%
Major integrative paper (12–24 pages, double‑spaced, based on course materials): 30%
Quiz (based on all textbooks) + final oral examination: 20%
Standard EUCLID grading scale applies. Students must contact the instructor after completing the five periods to arrange the quiz and oral exam. All work must demonstrate engagement with the textbooks and videos, proper academic style (Chicago or Turabian), and original ethical analysis.