Bioethics

Code

711031066

Academic unit

Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas

Department

Filosofia

Credits

6

Teacher in charge

Marta Mendonça

Weekly hours

4

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

a) Impart knowledge on the origins and evolution of Bioethics and its main tendencies.
b) Give the means to recognize the essentially interdisciplinary dimension of Bioethics.
c) Make known the Ethical foundations of Bioethics, as well as the latter’s basic principles and methods of application.
d) Impart the ability to discuss Bioethical questions connected to the several human life phases (from its beginning to its end).

Prerequisites

None.

Subject matter

Human life and Bioethics’s debate
The recent history of Bioethics shows that it is a question of a branch of knowledge that, on the one hand, has seen its sphere of study get ever wider and, on the other, has submitted itself to a process where its procedures and solutions are constantly revised. On the one hand, there are new questions, which developments in scientific research have been joining on to the more traditional topics in Bioethics; on the other, the very way of discussing the questions and solving them has been the subject of increasing reflection and theorization.
The course will touch on the recent history of Bioethics from this double point of view: from the point of view of its constitution as a new subject for study and from the point of view of an analysis of the solutions being proposed for solving the concrete problems and of the reasons on which these solutions are grounded.

Bibliography

- Documentos Internacionais de Bioética: Código de Nuremberga, Belmont Repport, Declaração Universal sobre Bioética e Direitos Humanos.
- BEAUCHAMP, T., CHILDRESS, J., Principles of Biomedical Ethics. Oxford University Press, New York, 1979. 7ª ed. revista: 2013. Trad. portuguesa da 4ª edição: Princípios de Ética Biomédica. Edições Loyola, S. Paulo, 2002
- CNECV, Pareceres elaborados pelo Conselho Nacional de Ética para as Ciências da Vida. Disponíveis em www.cnecv.gov.pt
- FERRER, J. J., ÁLVAREZ, J. C., Para fundamentar la Bioética. Teorías y paradigmas teóricos en la bioética contemporânea. Universidad Pontificia de Comillas y Editorial Desclée de Brouwer, Madrid, 2003
- SGRECCIA, E., Manuale de Bioetica. Vita e Pensiero. Pubblicazioni dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, 4ª Ed. Trad. Portuguesa: Manual de Bioética – Fundamentos e ética biomédica. Principia, Cascais, 2009.

Teaching method

The course has a mixed approach, theoretical and practical, combining a theoretical examination of the topics of the program with sessions devoted to students’ presentations.

Evaluation method

Appraisal will be based on:
1. Proof of attendance (70%)
2. One written essay, to be presented in class or discussed with the lecturer (30%

Courses

• Philosophy