Biomedical Ethics
Philosophy 78/Human Biology 173

Stanford University
Spring 1996

Professor

Edward N. Zalta, Acting Associate Professor, Philosophy
Office: Cordura 202 (Campus Dr. and Panama)
Phone: 723-0488
Mailbox: Ventura Hall (Campus Dr. and Panama)
Hours: ... and by appt.
E-mail: zalta@mally.stanford.edu

Teaching Assistants

Class Meetings

Tuesday, Thursday: 1:15--2:30 in Green Earth Sciences 131
Optional discussion section (to be arranged)

Principles of Biomedical Ethics, Tom Beauchamp and James Childress (4th Edition) (abbreviated `PBE' in the schedule)

Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, edited by Tom Beauchamp and LeRoy Walters (4th Edition) (abbreviated `CIB' in the schedule)

Course Requirements

1 term paper (10--15 pages) (30% of your grade)
2 midterm exams (each is 25% of your grade)
1 short paper (3--5 pages) (20% of your grade)
NO FINAL EXAM
NOTE: The exams will consist of questions designed to test how well you have assimilated the lectures and reading assignments. The short essay will be on a specific topic announced in class. The final essay will be on a more general topic; you will be asked to find a moral problem connected with that general topic and apply the methods of reasoning and analytic skills developed during the course of the quarter.

COURSE SCHEDULE

NOTE: The course schedule is tentative and the professor reserves the right to make changes as the quarter progresses. All such changes will be announced in class. Unless there is an announcement otherwise, the following material should be read by classtime of the day indicated.

April

2

Moral Judgments and Moral Dilemmas
read: PBE Chapter 1; CIB 1--11

4

Ethical Theory I (Utilitarianism)
read: PBE 44--62; CIB 11--17

9

Ethical Theory II (Deontology)

11

Ethical Theory III (Other Normative Theories)
read: PBE 62--100; CIB 17--22

16

Justice, Rights, and the Law
read: PBE 326--348; CIB 26--34

18

The Principle of Autonomy and the Concept of a Person
read: PBE 120--142; CIB 109--114

23

Consent, Disclosure, and the Right to Refuse Treatment
read: PBE 142--170; CIB 142--145, 148--153

25

MIDTERM EXAM

30

The Principle of Nonmaleficence
read: PBE 189--196; CIB 174--179

May

2

Killing vs. Letting Die; Physician Assisted Suicide
read: PBE 219--241; CIB 490--499

7

Surrogate Decisionmaking and Incompetent Patients
read: PBE 170--182, 241--249; CIB 153--160, 383--390, 419--428

9

SHORT PAPER DUE
The Principle of Beneficence: Medical Paternalism
read: PBE 259--291

14

Abortion
read: CIB 283--292, 302--316

16

Justice Principles: Macro- and Micro-Allocation of Resources
read: PBE 348--387; CIB 689--700

21

The Ethics of Experimentation
read: PBE 441--453; CIB 80--82;
other reading material to be announced

23

MIDTERM

28

Advanced Medical Technologies
read: CIB 629--643, 651--659

30

The Moral Dimensions of AIDS
read: CIB 517--527, 541--556, 581--588

June

4

[No Topic Presently Scheduled for this Class]

10

FINAL PAPER DUE

Grading Policies

1. No late papers, no makeup exams and no incompletes, unless special permission is granted by the professor in advance. Such permission will be accompanied by a grade penalty, which may be waived in the case of exceptional circumstances (such as genuine emergencies, etc.). Papers turned in late without advance permission lose one whole letter grade for each day it is late.

2. Participation in class, section, and/or steady improvement will be considered in determining your final grade, especially in borderline cases.

3. Reevaluations: Students may request a reevaluation of any exam or paper if they feel that it has been incorrectly graded. The work must be resubmitted within two weeks of the date the exam or paper was graded and returned.