Course Syllabus

Biology 301

BIOETHICS

A. Catalog Entry

Biology 301: Bioethics (4)

Two hours lecture (four hours lecture/week for seven weeks)

Biology 301 examines the historical, social, cultural, and

philosophical bases of various bioethical controversies.

Students will analyze the assumptions underlying positions,

the arguments presented in defense of these positions, and the

possiblity of resolving conflicts that arise over the issues

involved.

B. Detailed Description of Content of Course

(Note: Case Studies are provided as examples. The actual

case studies used may vary from year to year.)

1. Experimental Medicine and the Problem of Human

Experimentation

A. Case Study: Heart Transplants

B. Case Study: Experimental Treatments for AIDS

C. Ethical Limits of Experimental Treatments

2. The Ethics of Animal Experimentation

A. Case Study: Anti-Vivisection Movements in the 19th

Century

B. Case Study: The Rise of Animal Rights Movement

C. Justifications for Animal Experimentation

D. Justifications for Animal Rights

3. Environmental Ethics

A. Utilitarian versus Preservationist Approaches

B. Case Study: The Hetch Hetchy Dam

C. Case Study: The Spotted Owl and Forest Management

4. Ethics in Research: Alleged Cases of Scientific

Dishonesty

A. Case Study: Cyril Burt and Intelligence Testing

B. Contemporary Cases of Whistle-Blowing in Science

C. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

This course will be run on a modified seminar format. There

will be occasional lectures, but most of the time will be

devoted to class discussion. Students will be expected to

write short (1-2 page) reaction papers after each reading

assignment. These papers will serve as a basis for small

group discussion. At the end of each discussion, selected

groups will report their deliberations to the class for

further discussion. Lecture will be used to present probelms,

positions, and case studies. These will be supplemented, when

apropriate, by videotapes. Students will also have the

opportunity to initiate or expand topics through a modified

"learning cycle" approach.

D. Goals and Objectives of Course

By the end of the course students will be expected to

accomplish the following goals:

1. Discuss the historical background of selected bioethical

controversies.

2. Identify the major positions taken in these

controversies.

3. Identify the explicit and implicit assumption underlying

these positions.

4. Take a position and defend it against potential

criticism.

5. Discuss the similarities and differences among historical

and contemporary cases involving bioethical issues.

E. Assessment Measures

Students outcomes will be evaluated through:

1. Pre- and post-tests of course content.

2. Short reaction papers written in response to readings.

3. Class discussion.

4. Journals or other types of informal writing, particularly

entries aimed at drawing parallels between historical

case studies and issues in the daily news.

5. One or more formal papers involving library research.

F. Other Course Information

1. Reading List:

VanDeVeer and Pierce, eds., People, Penguins, and

Plastic Trees: Basic Issues in Environmental Ethics

(1986).

Baird and Rosenbaum, eds., Animal Experimentation: The

Moral Issues (1991).

Selected articles and editorials from semi-popular

journals, including: Christian Century, commonweal, The

Nation, The New Republic, Hastings Center Report.

2. Additional Sources:

Caplan, If I Were A Rich Man Could I Buy A Pancreas?

(1992).

Caplan, When Medicine Went Mad: Bioethics and the

Holocaust (1992).

Allison, Ecology and Utility: The Philosophical Dilemmas

of Planetary Management (1991).

Leahy, Against Liberation: Putting Animals in

Perspective (1991).

Ryder, Animal Revolution: Changing Attitudes Towards

Speciesism (1989).

NOVA: Do Scientists Cheat? (film)

G. Approval and Approval

DATE ACTION REVIEWED BY

April 1993 Updated & Revised Patrick B. Mikesell

Chairman

Department of Biology