STS 106 - Philosophical & Contemporary Issues

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

Topic for 2018/19b: Bioethics and Biopolitics. (Same as PHIL 106) We examine bioethics and biopolitics: the medical concerns of individuals and societies, technological development in the bio-medical fields, and ethical and political frameworks to address those concerns and developments. The first half of the course addresses particular case studies in bioethics, including: informed consent, public health issues, abortion, killing and letting die, voluntary euthanasia and medically assisted suicide, brain death and organ and resource allocation. The second half of the course looks at biopolitics, the so-called ‘right to death’ and ‘power over life’ in societies. The second half concerns itself with the theoretical underpinnings of the practical bioethical case studies: who has, or what groups and institutions have, access to certain medical care, what are the conditions for certain ethical modes of behavior, and what do we mean when we speak of aiming for a health or the best society. Biopolitics inquires into the ways in which bioethics can become ‘eugenics with a human face’ and how to respond. Osman Nemli.

Two 75-minute periods.