|
Public Health
Ethics Schedule
PHP 908
Thursdays from
5:30-9:30
University of New
Hampshire, Manchester Campus
Professor Nick Smith,
J.D. and Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of
Philosophy
nick.smith@unh.edu
Our Course Schedule
The Course Syllabus
The Course Writing Assignments
Office hours: Given
many of your work schedules, I will be available before and after
our evening class sessions for meetings. Please do not be shy about
scheduling meetings with me. For those who prefer to meet on the
Durham campus, email me to arrange a time.
Course Schedule:
August 20:
Session 1: Are the Ethical Objectives of Public Health Relative or
Universal?
Welcome and
Introduction
What are Your
Values and What are the Ethical Objectives of Public Health?
Aren’t Ethical
Principles Relative?
A Defense of Moral Relativism, Ruth
Benedict and A Defense of Cultural
Relativism,
William Graham Sumner (Rotate,
zoom, and/or print the PDF if you
have
difficulty reading it)
August 27:
Session 2: Kantian Ethics and Public Health
Debate:
Are Core Ethical Principles Relative or Universal?
What is Enlightenment?, Immanuel Kant (read the entire short
essay)
Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant
(read as
much as you can
endure for this class, finish for September)
Kant Cheat Sheet
September 3:
Session 3: Utilitarianism and Public Health Ethics
Kant Continued (Be
sure to have read as much as you can of the Metaphysics of Morals
and the Kant Cheat
Sheet above)
INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALS AND
LEGISLATION,
Jeremy Bentham (Read only the preface and Chapters I through IV)
Ethics and Public
Health Model Curriculum Module 5: Ethics and Infectious Disease
Control:
http://www.asph.org/UserFiles/Module5.pdf
Optional
Readings:
Binder and
Smith, “Framed:
Utilitarianism and the Punishment of the
Innocent”
(challenging a common criticism of Bentham)
September 10:
Session 4: Economic Justice and Public Health
CULTURE OF DEATH,
Wesley Smith
Chapter One: Harsh Medicine
Chapter Two: Life Unworthy of Life
Discussion:
Should the welfare of each individual patient be the unqualified
concern of
Public health ethics? Must public health ethics adopt a utilitarian
framework?
Debate on Midterm
Paper: Is Female or Male Circumcision a Public Health Crisis?
For and
overview of female circumcision, see
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/fgm/
For a comparison between female and male
circumcision, see:
http://www.noharmm.org/morepages.htm
Midterm
Due on Monday September 15 by 11:59 p.m.
Thursday,
September 17: Session 5: Free Markets in Human Health and Life
The Libertarian Manifesto, John Hospers
The Case for Libertarian Capitalism, Stephen Nathanson
Debate: Should there be a market in human organs?
Organs for Sale, from BODIES FOR SALE, Stephen Wilkinson
Optional Reading: Should there be a market in human adoption?
The Regulation of the Market in Adoptions, Richard Posner
Optional
Reading: Ethics and Public Health Model Curriculum Module 9: Public
Health and Health
System Reform: Access, Priority Setting, and Allocation of
Resources:
http://www.asph.org/UserFiles/Module9.pdf
Optional Reading:
Ethics and Public Health Model Curriculum Module 6: Ethics of
Health Promotion
and Disease Prevention:
http://www.asph.org/UserFiles/Module6.pdf
Optional Reading:
Ethics and Public Health Model Curriculum Module 7: Ethical
Issues in
Environmental and Occupational Health:
http://www.asph.org/UserFiles/Module7.pdf
Thursday,
September 24: Session 6: Socialized Medicine
The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx (read the entire Manifesto
and you can listen
to it via that
link as well)
Manifestoon (The Manifesto in an 8 Minute Cartoon)
A Moral Case for Socialism, Kai Neilson
This link allows you to see where you fall in terms of global income
level:
http://www.globalrichlist.com/
Thursday,
October 1: Session 7: Contrasting Free Market and Socialized Health
Care
Sicko, Michael Moore (In Class Viewing)
Discussion: Are free market or socialized health care systems more
just?
Thursday,
October 8: Session 8: Genetics, Biotech, and Public Health Ethics
Cloning
Cloning Human Beings: An Assessment of Ethical Issues Pro and Con,
Dan
Brock
The
President's Council on Bioethics released its report titled “Human
Cloning
And Human
Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry (July 2002) Read the
summary at:
http://www.bioethics.gov/reports/cloningreport/execsummary.html
Genetic Screening
My Genome,
Myself, from The New York
Times on the $1000 personal home genetics test
Ethics and
Public Health Model Curriculum Module 8: Public Health Genetics:
Screening
Programs and Individual Testing/Counseling:
http://www.asph.org/UserFiles/Module8.pdf
Eugenics
Liberal Eugenics, Nicholas Agar
The Case Against Perfection, Michael Sandel
Future Technology
The Singularity is Near, National Public Radio interview with
Ray Kurzweil where he
argues that if you can keep yourself alive and in good health for 15
years, the
emerging technology will enable you to live indefinitely. He also
considers what he
calls the “event horizon” where we can no longer conceptualize the
intelligence
achieved at a point in the exponential growth of computational
power. Scroll down
for the archived Real Player link:
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/05/11/23.php
(audio)
Will
Biotech Save Us or Hurt Us: A Debate Between Kurzweil and Greenfield
http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail1017.html
(audio)
Why The Future Doesn't Need Us, Bill Joy
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=
FINAL PAPER DUE OCTOBER 16 by 11:59 p.m.
|
