PHIL 210

Applied Ethics

Please note: this is archived course information from 2021 for PHIL 210.

Description

In this course we explore a range of real world ethical issues, and will focus on ethical issues concerning reproductive rights, sex work, punishment and gene editing.

For each of the four sections of the course, we will look at what is happening in the world and in New Zealand in relation to this issue, survey and evaluate a selection of relevant ethical arguments and look at some deeper conceptual and ethical issues that underlie the topic.

Reproduction and Parenting Advances in medicine have enabled people who cannot reproduce naturally to have children, through fertility treatment, IVF, and surrogacy. Some of the ethical issues concerning these practices will be explored, as well as the prior question of whether we do, and should have, a right to reproduce, and whether any limits on reproduction can be justified.

Sex Work: Sex work is now legal in New Zealand, but the ethical issues persist. Is sex just another exchange in a market driven economy, as the liberal view maintains? Is making sex work safer all that a government is required to do? Are there ethical objections to commercial sex that should inform our attitudes to this practice? What feminist objections can be raised? Should sex work be “normalised” in our society?

Punishment: Why should we punish those who break the law? Should our justifications for punishment be forward looking (focused on the future benefits) or backward looking (focused on "paying back" the offender for their wrong)? How exactly should we punish?

Gene Editing: Biotechnologies are rapidly advancing. New innovations in the twenty-first century include the ability to create new forms of life in the laboratory, and technology allowing scientists to edit the very genes that make us who we are. These sorts of innovations have the potential to have a profound impact on our society and our future, and raise deep ethical questions.

The course will be presented in three hours per week- two hours of interactive lecture and one hour of tutorial discussion.

Assessment

Coursework + exam

Availability 2021

Semester 1

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Dr Vanya Kovach

Reading/Texts

No prescribed texts

Please see Reading Lists for essential and further readings for each week of lectures. These may be added to as the course progresses

Assessment

Coursework essays + two-hour exam

Points

PHIL 210: 15 points

Prerequisites

PHIL 102 or 104, or 30 points in Philosophy, or 30 points at Stage I in Social Science for Public Health

Restrictions

PHIL 313