B6193 - ETICA IN MEDICINA E NELLA RICERCA

Learning outcomes

Understanding the principles of biomedical ethics and being able to identify the ethical dilemmas that may be encountered in professional practice as clinicians and researchers, along with the main frameworks for their resolution.

Course contents

This module introduces the main approaches of contemporary bioethics and provides the conceptual tools to critically analyse the ethical dilemmas that arise in clinical practice and biomedical research, through the examination of the main bioethical theories and the discussion of case studies.

The main topics covered are:

• Introduction to bioethics: the origins and development of bioethics.
  
  
• Main ethical theories applied to medicine: introduction to the main models of contemporary moral philosophy (utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics) and their application to the analysis of bioethical dilemmas.
  
  
• Beauchamp and Childress's principlism: analysis of the four principles (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice) through case studies and discussion of the main conflicts between principles in clinical practice.
  
  
• The contribution of feminisms to bioethics and the ethics of care, with particular attention to the notions of relational autonomy and vulnerability.
  
  
• Ethical issues at the beginning of life: analysis of the main lines of argument developed in the bioethical debate on abortion, with particular reference to the autonomy of the pregnant person, the different conceptions of the moral status of the embryo, and the main argumentative approaches developed in the bioethical debate (personalism, functionalism and other contemporary perspectives).
  
  
• Ethical issues at the end of life: ethical aspects of euthanasia and medically assisted suicide. Patient self-determination, proportionality of care, and the main ethical and legal issues discussed in the contemporary debate.

Readings/Bibliography

For the exam, students are required to study the lecture slides and the articles or short book sections that will be uploaded to the Virtuale platform.

For further study, the following are recommended:

Botti C., Prospettive femministe, Mimesis, 2014.

Lecaldano E., Bioetica, le scelte morali, Edizioni Laterza, 2015.

Reichlin M., Fondamenti di bioetica, il Mulino, 2021.

Teaching methods

Lectures combine the theoretical framing of topics with the discussion of case studies and ethical issues drawn from clinical practice and biomedical research.

Assessment methods

Written exam with multiple-choice questions on the 3 modules of the integrated course Philosophy of Medicine and Bioethics.

The questions are designed to assess knowledge of the main concepts covered during the course, understanding of the main theoretical approaches of bioethics, and the ability to apply them to the analysis of ethical issues in clinical and biomedical settings.

Teaching tools

PC, projector

Office hours

See the website of Emma Capulli