24635 - Applied Ethics

Learning outcomes

The course offers an introduction to applied ethics covering the moral approaches to the discipline, its guiding principles, and the normative criteria that may be used in working out specific problems in bioethics, business ethics, and professional ethics.

The course is divided in two parts. The first part will be devoted to the main moral and legal issues currently debated in bioethics. We will thus consider, on the one hand, the public moral dilemmas posed by technological innovation in medicine, and on the other hand the normative implications that can be extracted from a bioethical discussion of such dilemmas. Our focus will be on the most emblematic questions in medical bioethics: When does life begin? How should the patient-physician relationship be framed? How should medical genetics be used and what protections should be in place in connection with these uses? When does life end?

The second part of the course will be devoted to the current debate on the relation between ethics and the world of work and the professions. This is a relation that owes its importance to the increasing complexity of the world and to the accompanying knowledge required to deal with such complexity. In fact, this need has brought forth a greater and greater functional specialization of work, so much so that we stand witness today to a hyper-specialization in each department of culture, with an army of professionals whom the layperson relies on for access to culture, and this magnifies out of proportion the responsibility associated with such professional roles. The question will thus initially be approached by exploring the idea of a social role, and we will then develop this into the idea of social-role responsibility, with a focus on the legal professions and looking in particular at the roles of judge and lawyer.

Course contents

Bioethics

• The fundamentals of applied ethics

• Norms and ethical principles

• Introduction to bioethics

• Bioethics and law

• Sources of biolaw

• The beginning of life (abortion and medically assisted procreation)

• The patient-physician relationship (informed consent, the right to health and the refusal of treatment, advance directives)

• Medical genetics and the relative protections

• The end of life (physician-assisted suicide, permanent vegetative states, palliative care)

 

Professional Ethics

• Social roles

• The concept of role responsibility

• Ethics and codes of practice

• Ethics and the judge

• Ethics and the lawyer

Readings/Bibliography

Bioethics

 

Attending Students

1) Textbook Part

P. Borsellino, Bioetica tra “morali” e diritto (Milan: Raffaello Cortina, 2009) — specific parts from this textbook will be singled out for study

2) Focus Part

Supplemental coursework material and legal materials will be provided in class for this focus part. Students will also have the option of writing a paper on an issue selected from those discussed in class.

 

Non-attending Students

1) Textbook Part

P. Borsellino, Bioetica tra “morali” e diritto (Milan: Raffaello Cortina, 2009) — specific parts from this textbook will be singled out for study

2) Focus Part

Students needing material for further study of specific subjects covered in class are recommended to consult E. Lecaldano, Dizionario di bioetica (Laterza, 2007).

 

Professional Ethics

 

Attending Students

1) Textbook Part

G. Cosi, La responsabilità del giurista (Turin: Giappichelli, 1998) — specific parts from this textbook will be singled out for study

2) Focus Part

Supplemental coursework material and legal materials will be provided in class for this focus part. Students will also have the option of writing a paper on an issue selected from those discussed in class.

 

Non-attending students

1) Textbook Part

G. Cosi, La responsabilità del giurista (Turin: Giappichelli, 1998) — specific parts from this textbook will be singled out for study

2) Focus Part

Students needing material for further study of specific subjects covered in class are recommended to consult: A. Zamperini, Psicologia sociale della responsabilità. Giustizia, politica, etica e altri scenari, UTET, Torino 2002

Teaching methods

The course will be taught as a series of lectures, and part of the activities will consist in selecting readings and court rulings for study and comment.

The lectures will be held in the second semester.

Assessment methods

Students will be graded on a final oral exam.

Teaching tools

These will consist of legal materials (mostly court rulings) and readings handed out for class discussion. All the information relative to the course, along with any notice the instructors may give, as well as any supplemental course material, will be available online at www.cirsfid.unibo.it/didattica/eticapplicata

Office hours

See the website of Carla Faralli

See the website of Stefania Pellegrini