Issues in Applied Ethics
Code
722031058
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Filosofia
Credits
10
Weekly hours
3 letivas + 1 tutorial
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
1) To know the debates about the epistemological and theoretical nature of Practical Ethics, its autonomy and its relations with other fields of knowledge;
2) To recognize the most significant contemporary paradigms of Ethics interpretation of human action and how they are inscribed in the philosophical tradition;
3) To know the concepts and principles that shape practical rationality and their multiple translations into various fields of Practical Ethics;
4) To be able to identify governing factors of regional or Practical Ethics and to discuss their relevance;
5) To have the ability to critically analyse ethical problems of some fields of Practical Ethics, distinguishing the ethical approach form other non-ethical approaches with which it has affinities;
6) To get to know contemporary debates within Practical Ethics and the most significant literature in this area;
7) To have the ability to carry out independent research in Practical Ethics.
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
\"Autonomy\" and \"dignity\" within the bioethical debate
Part of the literature in bioethics supports the principles of the dignity of human life and of autonomy. Under the former, human life is said to be unavailable and worthy of respect in all circumstances; by virtue of the latter, each person’s life (and sometimes others’) is conceived as an object of their freedom, usable at their discretion. The potential for conflict arising here and the increasing difficulty in harmonizing the two principles both in theory and in practice is clear in most current bioethical debates. An analysis of these debates reveals different ways of understanding the concepts of dignity and autonomy and different ways of supporting and giving reason of the mentioned principles. Starting with contemporary Bioethics literature and going back to classical philosophical texts, the seminar will address the concepts of dignity and autonomy and the way they are organized and operate on Bioethics.
Bibliography
Anscombe, G. (2005). Human Life, Action and Ethics. Exeter: Imprint Academic.
Becker, G. K. (ed.). (2000). The Moral Status of Persons. Perspectives on Bioethics. Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi.
Hacker, P. (2007). Human Nature: the Categorial Framework. Malden, Oxford, Victoria: Blackwell.
Hill, T. (1991). Autonomy and self-respect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MacIntyre, A. (1999). Dependent Rational Animals. London: Duckworth.
Pessina, A. (1999) Bioetica. L’uomo sperimentale. Milano: Mondadori.
Savagnone, G. (2004). Metamorfosi della persona. Il soggetto umano e non humano in bioetica. Torino: Editrice Elledici.
Spaemann, R. (1996). Personen. Versuche über den Unterschied zwischen “etwas” und “jemand”. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.
Taylor, J. (ed.). (2005). Personal Autonomy. New Essays on Personal Autonomy and Its Role in Contemporary Moral Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Teaching method
The course will work as a seminar, with a double explanatory and hands-on approach. The dominant methodology will be the analysis of literature. The guiding principle will alternate between a systematic approach to the concepts of dignity and autonomy and a comparative analysis of the positions taken by various philosophers. The concepts of autonomy and dignity, the problems associated with their articulation, the formation of arguments founded on these notions, etc. will be discussed, with a view to a) determine the various meanings of these concepts and b) explore how these different meanings operate in the bioethical debate.
Evaluation method
Oral contributions during the seminar (35%).
A written essay (between 15,000 and 25,000 characters, including spaces) on a topic to be agreed between teacher and student at the beginning of the semester (65%).