Philosophy 319: (Feminist) Bioethics

Course Description: Controversies in bioethics have become a regular part of contemporary life. We are in the midst of a biological and technological revolution that raises interesting and important ethical, political, and philosophical questions. Focused especially on concepts of autonomy and dependency, we will explore asking: When does life begin? How do we define death? What life is worth living, who decides, and how? What does it mean to suffer from disease and disability? Should we mandate vaccination for disease? Should we use new technologies for human enhancement? What is a good relationship between a patient and caregivers? What is informed consent and how do we decide who is competent to give it? What is trauma-informed care? Gender-affirming care? Who should take care of our elders and how should we approach end-of-life care? What is our responsibility for providing a just distribution of health-care resources in our communities, both local and global? We'll consider these questions and more in a seminar discussion format. Background in biology suggested. Interested students who don't satisfy the prerequisites should contact the instructor.

Project Description: In small groups, students create a well-researched and reasoned podcast on their chosen topic: Abortion, Disability and Personhood, End-of-Life Care, Epistemic and Obstetric Violence, and Gender-Affirming Care. Podcasts are meant to be educative to a general audience. In the process of creating their podcast, students submit both an annotated bibliography and a podcast outline and attended office hours to further refine ideas. Podcast requirements include: 15-20 minutes in length, have a structure with clear segments (i.e., an introduction, 2-4 main points, and a conclusion), and engage at least 6 sources (3 course readings, 3 peer-reviewed external sources). Additional interviews or media as well as the use of sound effects encouraged, but not required. The most important thing is the content of the podcast, not the form (i.e., quality of philosophy matters more than sound production/editing). Students shared their podcasts with the class in a celebratory listening party during our scheduled finals time (Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:30pm in Center 300). As a class, we recommend listening to Luis Rivera and Jordan Donsky's excellent podcast, The Importance of Gender-Affirming Care.

Creator

• Gaines, Thomas

• Walker, Edward

Contributors

• Rognlie, Dana

Subject

• Abortion

• Pro-life movement

• Eugenics

• Reproductive rights

• Pregnancy

• Bioethics

Abstract

• Wabash students Gaines and Walker provide a casual and conversational summary of the current abortion debate. They engage both pro- and anti-abortion positions to expose the ideological issues with the anti-abortion platform as well as the problems the pro-abortion platform has yet to confront. Specifically, they engage Don Marquis's classic article, Why Abortion is Immoral (1989) and Kate Manne's chapter Unruly: On the Entitlement to Bodily Control from her recent book Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women (2020). Combining personal experiences with ideas from Marquis, Manne, and others, Gaines and Walker provide an account that is both humorous and informative.

Language

• English

Identifier

• AbortionGainesandWalkerBioethicspodcast2.mp4

Keyword

• Philosophy

Date created

• 2023-05-13

Resource type

• Audio

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Bibliographic citation

• Gaines, Thomas and Edward Walker. A Candid Discussion of the Anti-Abortion Platform. Philosophy 319: (Feminist) Bioethics. Course Project, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, Spring 2023.