This course examines a series of ethical issues that arise in the context of international relations and biomedical technologies. Topics include: warfare, terrorism, abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, patient autonomy, humanitarian intervention, organ donation, famine relief, and genetic enhancement.
Introduction
Abortion
Tooley: "In Defense of Abortion and Infanticide"
Abortion II
Marquis: "Why Abortion is Immoral"
Abortion III
Thomson: "A Defense of Abortion"
Abortion IV
Hursthouse: "Virtue Theory and Abortion"
Suicide
Hume: "Of Suicide"
Euthanasia
Rachels: "Active and Passive Euthanasia"
Nesbitt: "Is Killing No Worse Than Letting Die?"
Euthanasia II [Class Debate]
Brock: "Voluntary Active Euthanasia"
Callahan: "When Self-Determination Runs Amok"
Moral Relativism
Rachels: "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism" (§2.1-2.6, §2.8)
Benedict: "A Defense of Cultural Relativism"
FIRST EXAM
Moral Relativism II
Rachels: "The Challenge of Cultural Relativism" (§2.7)
Nussbaum: "Judging Other Cultures: The Case of Female Genital Mutilation"
Justice
Hobbes: Leviathan, Chapters 13-15 (selections)
Cohen: "Moral Skepticism and International Relations" (part one)
Justice II
Hume: Treatise of Human Nature, "Of the Origin of Justice and Property" §2-11
Hume: "Of the Laws of Nations"
Cohen: "Moral Skepticism and International Relations" (part two)
Just War Theory
Valls: "Can Terrorism Be Justified?"
Just War Theory II
Mavrodes: “Conventions and the Morality of War”
Just War Theory III [Class Debate]
Fullinwider: “War and Innocence”
Alexander: "Self-Defense and the Killing of Noncombatants, A Reply to Fullinwider"
Paternalism
Mill: On Liberty (Selections)
Dworkin: "Paternalism"
Paternalism II
Schwartz: "Autonomy, Futility, and the Limits of Medicine"
Savulescu: "Rational Non-Interventional Paternalism: Why Doctors Ought to Make Judgments of What is Best for Patients"
SECOND EXAM
Interventions
Mill: "A Few Words about Non-Intervention"
Walzer: “The Rights of Political Communities”
Interventions II
Luban: "Just War and Human Rights"
Walzer: "The Moral Standing of States"
Luban: "The Romance of the Nation State"
Distribution of Resources
Kant: "Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals"
O'Neill: "Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems"
Distribution of Resources II
Singer: "Famine, Affluence, and Morality"
Distribution of Resources III
Rawls: "Justice as Fairness"
Beitz: "Justice and International Ethics"
Distribution of Resources IV [Class Debate]
Moss and Siegler: “Should Alcoholics Compete Equally for Liver Transplantation?”
Cohen et. al: “Alcoholics and Liver Transplantation”
Distribution of Resources V
Harris: “Survival Lottery”
Genetic Manipulation
Glannon: "Genetic Enhancement"
Sandel: "The Case Against Perfection: What's Wrong with Designer Children, Bionic Athletes, and Genetic Engineering"
THIRD EXAM