PHILOSOPHY OF MEDICINE

Catalog description

This course considers a range of philosophical questions raised by and within the practice of medicine. The course begins with a conceptual investigation of the meaning of "health" from "illness." Is the classification of individuals as healthy or ill an objective, scientific matter? Or is it instead a matter of social and ethical values? What follows from answering this question one way, versus another? This introduction forms the backdrop against which we move on to investigate a range of further topics. Examples of some of the topics that may be covered include: medical and social models of disability; the role morality of doctors and other medical providers; abortion, euthanasia, and conscientious objection in the healthcare professions; health measurement and quality of life; "death panels" and health resource rationing; conditions on appropriately voluntary and informed consent to medical procedures; and the ethics of biomedical research. (Cross-listed with MEDH 3450 ).