Postgraduate Course: Fundamentals in Bioethics (LAWS11390)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course serves as a foundation for critical engagement with the core elements of doing bioethics. It will introduce students to three pillars of rigorous bioethical analysis: (i) defining and distinguishing concepts, (ii) understanding theories, and (iii) recognising and constructing robust arguments. It will equip students with the skills to develop and defend ethical arguments, and to apply these to legal, regulatory and policy issues in health, medicine and the biosciences. |
| Course description |
Teaching Programme:
* Week 1: Introducing an ethical toolbox
Introducing the importance of the three pillars of good bioethical reasoning (i) the skills of sound argumentation (ii) the importance of conceptual clarity (iii) the relevance and limitations of ethical theory.
* Week 2: Who matters? The significance of moral status
Examining the question of what kinds of beings are the proper object of moral concern and introducing the concept of personhood.
* Week 3: Killing or letting die?
Exploring the distinctions between acts and omissions and their moral (ir)relevance
* Week 4: What makes life worth living?
Comparing a range of accounts that seek to characterise what wellbeing or a worthwhile life consist in and highlighting the different perspectives from which this question may be approached.
* Week 5: What matters? Introducing ethical theories.
Introducing the core precepts of the most prominent ethical theories (e.g. utilitarianism, deontology etc.) and critically engaging with the limits of the use of theory in practical bioethics
* Week 6: Why do I get to choose?
Introduction to theories of autonomy and the limitations of autonomy a guiding principle
* Week 7: Why does the body matter?
Encouraging students to think critically about the ways in which we are and are not our bodies and the extent to which a worthwhile life or good outcomes are synonymous preserving a healthy or 'normal' body.
* Week 8: That's unfair! Why worry about justice?
Highlighting the increasing importance of political philosophy in bioethics, through key questions of fairness, and justice. We will ask: what does it mean to live in a fair society? What would be a fair approach to the distribution of health/healthcare?
* Week 9: No (wo)man is an island? Who else matters?
Broadening the ethical lens to look beyond individual interests and actions to explore the ethical significance of living and acting within groups, communities, states.
* Week 10: What should I do?
Consolidating the preceding sessions, this final class will turn to what is often seen as the central focus of ethics, the morality of actions. Having had the prior discussions, students will be better equipped to critically consider the rightness and wrongness of actions, as well as the limits to such an account of ethics.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Please contact the online learning team at law.online@ed.ac.uk |
| Additional Costs | Students should have regular and reliable access to the Internet. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2018/19, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 40,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
156 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1 x short written exercise (1000 words) (40%)
1 x essay (4000 words) (60%)
Requirements for all course assessments will be outlined to students within the individual courses at the start of each semester.
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| Feedback |
Students will have the opportunity to obtain formative feedback over the course of the semester. The feedback provided will assist students in their preparation for the summative (graded) assessments.
Details of the School's feedback policy will be available at the start of the course.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate critical understanding of the principal concepts, theories, and methods of bioethical reasoning and argumentation.
- Identify, conceptualise and analyse ethical problems and issues.
- Deal with complex issues and make informed judgements in situations characterised by dilemmas and plurality of values.
- Communicate ethical ideas and positions, appropriately and effectively, using a variety of methods, and to a range of audiences, taking into account the complex and sensitive nature of many bioethical topics.
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Reading List
There is no set text for this course.
A proportion of the core readings will come from:
- Kuhse, H, & Singer, P (eds). (2012). 'A companion to bioethics: second edition'. Wiley Blackwell. Available as an e-book from University of Edinburgh library
- Kuhse H, Schueklenk U and Singer P. (eds) (2016), 'Bioethics: an anthology: Third edition', Wiley Blackwell.
Both of these are available as e-books from University of Edinburgh library
The following texts are not currently available as an ebook - relevant scanned chapters will be made available to students.
- Ashcroft, R, Dawson, A, Draper, H, andMcMillan, J (eds). (2007) 'Principles of health care ethics'. John Wiley & Sons.
- Rachels, J. (2003) 'The Elements of Moral Philosophy: fourth edition', McGraw-Hill, Boston.
- Glover, J. (1977) 'Causing Death and Saving Lives', Penguin Books.
A detailed list of key resources will be available at the start of the course. |
Additional Information
| Course URL |
http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/online_distance_learning/llm_degrees/llm_in_medical_law_and_ethics/modules/fundamentals_in_bioethics |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. Cognitive skills. The course will enable the student to select and deploy appropriate research techniques; they will critically analyse and evaluate key issues in the subject area, and formulate coherent arguments relating to key issues in the subject area.
2. Communications. Students will be able to summarise and communicate information and ideas effectively in oral and written form. Students are also expected to interact with each other and with tutors online, and this forms part of the overall assessment.
3. Autonomy, accountability. Students will exercise personal autonomy and intellectual initiative in, and take responsibility for, the conduct of their own work.
4. Working with others. They will engage with others through participation in online discussion: articulating and supporting a line of argument and formulating critical analyses of arguments presented by others. |
| Special Arrangements |
This course is taught by online learning. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
This course is taught by online learning. |
| Keywords | bioethics,medical ethics,moral philosophy,medical law,medical jurisprudence |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Emily Postan
Tel:
Email: E.Postan@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Clare Polson
Tel: (0131 6)51 9704
Email: Clare.Polson@ed.ac.uk |
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