When Does Life Deserve Protection?

Catalog description

Why does life have value? What type of life has value? When are we morally obligated to protect life? This course explores these and other pivotal questions regarding the value of human, animal, and artificial life. Throughout the course, students will be exposed to and engage with a variety of exciting and emerging topics in the protection of life, including medical aid in dying, conservation/extinction, and transhumanism, among other subjects. Contemporary case studies, podcasts, and excerpts from fictional television shows will be utilized to facilitate discussions and inspire students' creative problem-solving skills. Students should expect to leave the course with a well-informed, multidisciplinary understanding of what constitutes the value of life and when it deserves protection.