We will explore laws surrounding patient autonomy and the right to refuse treatment alongside moral arguments for the exercise of paternalism in special cases. We will take a close, philosophical look at the notion of truth-telling to examine the claim that full disclosure can sometimes be morally wrong and, in fact, lying can be morally permissible. Although obtaining informed consent for medical procedures is automatic in practice, we will examine the claim that the very concept of informed consent is fundamentally flawed. We will learn about recent advances in genetic testing and gene therapy that give rise to new ethical concerns about conceptions of disability, enhancement and reproduction.
We will also consider how advances in life-prolonging technologies create difficult ethical questions about a patient’s right to die and physician autonomy. For our final topic, we will look at health care through a wider lens, questioning theories of justice in the distribution of health care resources.
- Course Dates: TBD.
- Instructor: TBD.
- Credits: 3.