Seminar on Bioethics Through Fiction: Disability, Illness, and Death

Catalog description

This seminar uses fiction as well as conventional bioethical material as a vehicle for philosophical discussions of disability, illness, and death. Topics include the following: What is disability? What is illness? What do healthy and able-bodied people owe sick, disabled, or dying people, and vice versa? Should we “accept” death, stave it off, or does this depend (on what)? How can fiction enrich philosophical discussions of such questions? In order to include students with a wide range of interests and backgrounds, this seminar has no prerequisites. It is an in-person seminar with all sessions available for remote participation by students who have valid reasons for not being able to attend in person, although the two weeks on quadriplegia will be fully remote to familiarize you with the educational feature of such classes, including their advantages for many disabled people.