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The Chang School for Continuing Education
Department of Philosophy
Ryerson University
Spring 2013
CPHL509-BA0 Syllabus
Instructor: Dr. Victoria I. Burke
Course Time: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM MW
Course Location: KHS 251
Email: victoria.burke@ryerson.ca
Bioethics
The philosophical area of bioethics is concerned with applied ethical issues that arise out of the practice of
medicine and research on the physiology of human beings. This introduction to bioethics will ask ethical
questions concerning such issues as abortion (including selective abortion), active and passive euthanasia,
research on human subjects, the physician-patient relationship and medical confidentiality (including issues
that arise in multicultural societies), decisions concerning the allocation of life sustaining treatment,
informed consent, truth-telling, conflicts of interest, the role of the family in medical decision-making,
embryonic stem cell research,, genetic screening, genetic enhancement, human cloning, and issues
concerning justice in health care distribution, patient rights, and societal obligations in the practice of
medicine. In the course of examining each issue, we will also discuss such theoretical issues as the scope
and limits of autonomy and individual liberty, the ethics of cost/benefit analyses, and the difference
between rule and act utilitarianism. This is a course in ethics not biology, but in the course of our study, we
will discuss human physiology to the extent that it is required to understand the ethical issues. We will also
examine selected case studies. In the course of our study, we will discuss specifically Canadian legal
precedents and the ethical justification for a single-payer government-sponsored health care system.
Required Text:
Biomedical Ethics: A Canadian Focus, Ed. Johnna Fisher, Second Edition, Oxford University Press ISBN
978-0-19-544688-3
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A Note on the Textbook: There is a previous edition of this textbook that has 85% of the material that this
course will use from the current edition. If you need to save money, and can find a cheaper first edition of
the textbook, you will probably be able to get a decent grade in the course with it.
Obtaining Course Texts:
The textbook is available at the university bookstore at the courner of Gould and Victoria Streets.
Course Requirements: Students will be assessed on the basis of two Analysis papers (5-6 pages each),
tutorial participation, and a Final Examination.
Distribution:
1st Analysis (5-6 pages): 25%
2nd Analysis (5-6 pages): 25%
Class Participation: 15%
Final Examination: 35%
Guidelines for submitting written work: The essays must be submitted on white 8.5 x 11 paper, typed
single-sided, and double-spaced. Students must keep a copy of their work for their own files in case the
paper should become lost. If the paper becomes lost (by the student, the Chang School staff, or the
Instructor), it is the student's responsibility to be able to replace it. Papers may not be submitted
electronically via e-mail or by fax. For footnoting or citation style use Chicago Manual of Style, MLA
Style, or APA Style. Any of the standard style sheets is fine, as long as you are consistent.
Ecologically friendly writing assignments: In the interest of maintaining an ecologically sound course,
cover sheets are not required on the assignments. Put your name and student number at the top of the first
page and start the essay one quarter of the way down the page. Do not include a bibliography. External
sources are not permitted on the analysis papers, and it is presumed you are using the course texts. Put the
page citation for references in brackets within the text after the quotation. Example: (Fraser, Rethinking
Recognition, 234). Recently some students have been using slightly off-white recycled paper rather than
brilliant white paper. This is encouraged. It is encouraged for students to use recycled paper.
Deadlines: The deadlines for the two essay assignments are May 15, 2013, and June 10, 2013. The essays
should be handed in during class on the specified due date. 10% will be subtracted from the student’s grade
for every day that the paper is late.
Late Papers: Late papers may be handed in to the Chang School front desk during business hours or to the
dropbox on the north side of the Chang School building. You must let me know that you have dropped a
paper off there. Be sure the instructor name is on the paper.
Email: Philosophical questions will not be answered on email by the professor. Students must avail
themselves of class time in order to have their questions answered. Only short administrative questions will
be answered on email. You can expect a response in 48 hours. If the answer to your question can be found
on the Blackboard site, you will not receive a response.
Readings and Lectures: Students should read the assigned material prior to class, and should bring the
texts to class as class may involve careful and close examination of the readings. Students’ essays will be
assessed on the basis of grammar, style, and their comprehension and synthesis of the reading material,
lectures, and tutorials.
Blackboard: This course will have a Blackboard site where all handouts will be posted. Please check the
Blackboard site regularly for announcements. The Powerpoint Presentations will also be posted on the
Blackboard site. To login, visit:
Legal Cases: The Supreme Court of Canada has a website where all of its decisions are explained.
Wikipedeia is also generally reliable for information on legal cases.
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Course Schedule
WEEK :1
May 6: Course Introduction, Abortion
Reading: Don Marquis, “Why Abortion is Immoral,” pp. 136-146; Warren, “On the Moral and Legal Status
of Abortion,” pp. 146-152; Thompson, A Defense of Abortion,” pp. 152-160; Recommended supplemental
reading (optional): Karen Houle. “Abortion as the Work of Mourning,” Symposium: Canadian Journal of
Continental Philosophy, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Spring 2007), pp. 141-166; Discussion of R. vs. Morgentaler, 1988
Canadian Supreme Court case affirming women’s right to not be obstructed in seeking an abortion.
*Instructions for 1st Analysis posted to Blackboard site
May 8: Terminating Treatment in Pregnant Women, Disabled Newborns, Stem Cell Research
Reading: Thompson, “ Devolder, “Creating and Sacrificing Embryos for Stem Cells,” pp. 298- 303;
Seymour, “Pregnant Women’s Decision to Decline Treatment: How Should the Law Respond?” pp. 169174; Mahowald, “Decisions Regarding Disabled Newborns,” pp. 175-182
WEEK 2
May 13: Euthanasia
Reading: Rachels, “Active and Passive Euthanasia,” pp. 216-219; Brock, “Voluntary Active Euthanasia,”
pp. 203-215; Velleman, “Against the Right to Die,” (download from the author’s website @
https://files.nyu.edu/jrs477/public/Velleman%20-%20Against%20the%20Right%20to%20Die.pdf;
Discussion of cases: Taylor v. B.C. Attorney General (2012 B.C. Supreme Court decision upholding right
of ALS patient to physician assisted suicide; the federal government had announced that it will appeal this
to the Supreme Court of Canada), Rodriguez v. B.C. Attorney General (1993 Canadian Supreme Court
decision denying right of ALS patient to physician-assisted suicide)
May 15: Euthanasia and Decisions Concerning Life Sustaining Treatment
Reading: “When Self-Determination Runs Amok,” pp. 222-226; Wicclair, “Medical Futility: A
Conceptual and Ethical Analysis,” pp. 196-198; “Medical Ethics and the Double-Effect: The Case of
Terminal Sedation,” pp. 199-203
*Analysis #1 Due
*Instructions for 2nd Analysis posted by this date
WEEK 3
May 20: Victoria Day Holiday (no classes)
May 22: Genetics and Human Reproduction
Reading: Kass, “Implications of Prenatal Diagnosis for the Human Right to Life,” pp. 322-326; Purdy,
“Genetics and Reproductive Risk: Can Having Children Be Immoral?” pp. 326-330; Baylis & Robert, “The
Inevitability of Genetic Enhancement,” pp. 313-320
WEEK 4
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May 27: Genetics and Human Reproduction; Cloning
Reading: Glannon, “Genetic Enhancement,” pp. 305-308; Brock, “Genetic Engineering,” pp. 309-313;
Kass, “Cloning of Human Beings,” pp. 294-298
May 29: Confidentiality, Informed Consent, and Medical Information
Reading; Canadian AIDS/HIV Network, “Privacy, Human Rights, Public Policy and Law,” pp. 97-106;
Fleck and Angell, “Please Don’t Tell: A Case about HIV and Confidentiality,” 122-124; Thomasma,
“Telling the Truth to Patients,” pp. 119-122; Baden & Beauchamp, “The Concept of Informed Consent,”
pp. 44-47; Discussion of Case study re John Reibl, pp. 125-126; Smith vs Jones 1999 Canadian Supreme
Court Case, when medical confidentiality poses a public danger, p. 126; Case 5, concerning information on
risk to relatives, p. 127
WEEK 5
June 3: Research on Human Beings
Reading: Pence, “The Tusgekee Study,” pp. 435-442; Ross, “Dr. Ewen Cameron,” 442-446; Capron,
“Ethical and Human-Rights Issues in Research on Mental Disorders That May Affect Decision-Making
Capacity,” pp. 470-474; Schafer, “Biomedical Conflicts of Interest: A Defense of the Sequestration
Thesis,” pp. 446-452
June 5: Allocation of Scarce Resources
Reading: Kondro, “The Debate Over Online Recruitment of Organ Donors,” pp. 426-427; “Rationing
Services to an Elder Who is Responsible for his Own Health Condition,” p. 428; Case 3 “Buying a Kidney
but Requesting Canadian After-Care,” p. 428; Kishore, “Human Organs, Scarcities, and Sale: Morality
Revisited,” pp. 417-421; Callahan, “Allocating Resources to the Elderly,” pp. 405-415
WEEK 5
June 10: The Family and Health Care in Multicultural Societies
Reading: Kipnis, “Quality Care and the Wounds of Diversity,” pp. 62-65; Macklin, “Ethical Relativism in
a Multicultural Society,” pp. 65-73; Mappes and Zembaty, “Patient Choices, Family Interests, and
Physician Obligations,” pp. 80-87
*2nd Analysis due
June 12: Social Justice and Health-Care Policy
Reading: Nielson, “Equality, Autonomy, and a Just Health Care System,” pp. 381-386; Armstrong,
“Managing Care the Canadian Way,” pp. 358-360; “Belinda Stronach Travels to California for Health
Care,” p. 386
*Study Guide for the final exam posted
WEEK 7
WEEK 6
June 17: No Reading: Catch-up & Review for Final Exam
June 19: Comprehensive Final Exam (during regularly scheduled class session)
Recommended Supplemental Reading for Week 1: Karen Houle. “Abortion as the Work of Mourning.”
Symposium. This is not a moral argument concerning what is right or wrong with respect to abortion, or an
argument about whether abortion should or should not be legal. Rather, it is a more nuanced
phenomenological treatment of the complexity of the lived experience of the need to choose an abortion.
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We will not cover this in detail in class (although its main points will be touched upon, and you may choose
to draw upon its insights in your first essay).
Supplemental Required Reading for Week 2: David Vellemen. “Against the Right to Die.” PDF Download
from author’s website. The URL is on the syllabus. This essay will be covered in class, and will be on the
final.
Accommodation
a.
You must inform me of any situation which arises during the semester which may have an adverse
effect upon their academic performance; you must request any necessary considerations (e.g. medical or
compassionate), or accommodations [e.g. religious observance, disability (should be registered with the
access center), etc.] according to policies and well in advance. failure to do so will jeopardize any
academic appeals.
b.
Medical certificates – medical certificates for deadlines, tests and exams missed due to illness
must be provided. (see the policy for the details and www.ryerson.ca/rr/medical.pdf for the certificate).
such documents should normally be submitted within 3 working days of a missed assignment, test or exam.
c.
Religious observance – requests are to be made formally within the first two
weeks of class. (see www.ryerson.ca/acadcouncil/current/pol150.pdf )
d.
Regrading and recalculation – must be requested within 10 working days of the return of the
graded assignment to the class. these are not grounds for an appeal, but are matters for discussion between
the student and the instructor.
Aacademic conduct – refer to www.ryerson.ca/acadcouncil/current/pol60.pdf:
policy 60 - student code of academic conduct: the code of academic conduct will be rigorously enforced.
Student e- mail account - refer to www.ryerson.ca/acadcouncil/current/pol157.pdf
policy 157 - establishment of student e-mail accounts for official university communication - since faculty
will be able to get a complete e-mail list from ccs for each class, it is important that students know that they
are to obtain and maintain a ryerson matrix e-mail account.