Department of Philosophy
University of Toronto at Scarborough
Fall 2021
PHLB09H3F: Biomedical Ethics
Professor: Dr. Joshua Brandt
Contact: joshua.brandt@utoronto.ca; Please do not use the Quercus mail system
Office: Available remotely through Zoom
Course Times: Lectures posted Friday by 12pm
Location: Lecture links posted to Quercus (q.utoronto.ca)
Office Hours: Fridays 2-4pm (Zoom)
Course Description:
Welcome to Biomedical Ethics! This course surveys core ethical issues that arise
in the context of health care delivery and the biomedical sciences. The first 3
weeks are designed to provide a grounding in the general moral theories that
inform specialized biomedical problems. We then move to topics in procreative
ethics (e.g. is there an obligation to bring the healthiest children into existence),
issues pertaining to the patient-physician relationship (e.g. what kind of
information is required for informed consent?), questions that shape research ethics
(e.g. when is running a randomized clinical trial permissible?), and challenges that
pertain to end of life care (e.g. is medical assistance in dying permissible?). Where
possible, the ethical discussion will be complemented with corresponding
Canadian case law.
Course Evaluation:
Essay 1 (1200 words) (25%) – Oct. 15th
Essay 2 (1500 words) (30%) – Nov. 17th
Tutorial Participation/Online Discussion (10%)
Final Exam (take home format) (35%)— TBA
Course Texts: Our initial readings will be posted to Quercus
(q.utoronto.ca). This includes all readings from Engaging Bioethics.
Most of our readings for the remainder of term are contained in the
text Bioethics in Canada (2nd edition), which can be purchased from
the bookstore.
Policies:
1) Academic Integrity: According to the University of Toronto's Code of
Behaviour on Academic Matters (August 1995), which all students are
expected to know and respect, the following counts as an academic offence:
copying or paraphrasing extensive passages from sources without
acknowledgement; submitting a term paper written in whole or in part by
someone else; submitting a term paper for credit in more than one course
without the permission of the instructor; copying the answers of another
student in any test, examination or take-home assignments. In any of these
cases appropriate penalties will be applied. It is the policy of the Department
and of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences that all cases of plagiarism are
subject to disciplinary measures at either the Department or Faculty level.
Individual faculty members do not have the discretion to waive these
measures.
2) AccessAbility Services: I am committed to accommodating students with
disabilities. If you have a disability that requires accommodation, I
recommend contacting AccessAbility Services as soon as possible (S302,
416-287-7560) or speaking with me in person. AccessAbility Services
include the assessment of student needs, alternative testing, note takers,
adaptive material, assistive technology, and the facilitation of inclusion on
campus. Accommodations are not limited to the formal services offered by
the university: if you have an access issue that is not being addressed by
Accessibility Services, I will do my best to assist you.
3) Late work: Unexcused late work will be penalized 3% per day up to a
maximum of 20%. Work received over 10 days late will not be accepted.
Extensions can be granted for a documented illness or another good reason
(please discuss with your TA in advance when possible).
4) Religious accommodation: I will arrange reasonable accommodations for
the needs of students who observe religious holy days other than those
already accommodated by ordinary scheduling and statutory holidays.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have such a need.
5) Readings: There may be minor changes to the reading list as the term
progresses. Any changes will be announced in class and posted to Quercus.
Please stay apprised of such announcements.
6) Returned Work: The TAs for this course have been requested to return
work no later than 2 weeks after submission. In extenuating circumstances,
myself or your TA will communicate about delays.
7) Turnitin.com: Normally, students will be required to submit their course
essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of
possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be
included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where
they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms
that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described
on the Turnitin.com web site. Please contact me or your TA if you would
like to be exempt from the use of Turnitin.
Schedule of Readings
Week 1 (Sep. 10th)
Topic: What is biomedical ethics?
Reading: Chapter 1 +2 Engaging Bioethics; “The Challenge of Cultural
Relativism” (Rachels)
Week 2 (Sep. 17th)
Topics: Moral theory and cultural relativism
Reading: Chapter 1 +2 Engaging Bioethics continued; “The Challenge of
Cultural Relativism” (Rachels) continued
Week 3 (Sep. 24nd)
Topics: Moral theory, and divine command theory
Reading: Chapter 2 Engaging Bioethics
Week 4 (Oct. 1st)
Topic: Approaches to normative ethics and biomedical ethics
Reading: Chapter 3 Engaging Bioethics; Chapter 3 Bioethics in Canada
Week 5 (Oct. 8th)
Topic: Procreation and child rearing
Readings: Chapter 3 Bioethics in Canada continued; Winnipeg Child and
Family Services (Northwest Area) v. G. (D.F.)
Week 6 (Oct. 15th)
Reading Week
Week 7 (Oct 22nd)
Topic: Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
Readings: Chapter 9 Bioethics in Canada; Carter v. Canada; TBA
Week 8 (Oct 29th)
Topic: Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
Readings: Chapter 9 Bioethics in Canada; Carter v. Canada; TBA
Week 9 (Nov. 5th)
Topic: Human research
Readings: Chapter 6 Bioethics in Canada; Halushka v. University of
Saskatchewan et. al.
Week 10 (Nov. 12th)
Topic: Autonomy and informed consent
Readings: Chapter 4 Bioethics in Canada; Reibl v. Hughes; Murray v.
McMurchy; Mulloy v. Hop Sang
Week 11 (Nov. 19th)
Topic: Conception and embryos
Readings: Chapter 1 Bioethics in Canada
Week 12 (Nov. 26th)
Topic: TBA
Reading: (selections to be announced)
Week 13 (Dec. 3rd)
Topic: Final Assignment Preparation (previous content may be continued)
Readings: