Biomedical Ethics Paper

PHL 309-002: Biomedical Ethics – Fall 2020

First Draft: Due by start of class Friday 10/30

Final Revision: Due Sunday, 11/8 11:59pm

Essay Assignment 1:

Assignment: Write a philosophical essay analyzing one of the major topics of biomedical controversy we have discussed in this course: e.g. clinical trials, end of life ethics, or reproductive ethics.

Specific Instructions:

1. Select at least one of the required or optional readings from our course which argues for a conclusion you disagree with. Identify the strongest arguments for that conclusion and explain those argument(s) in your own words . Be sure to present the strongest possible interpretation of the argument. (Philosophers call this rule of interpretation the “principle of charity.”)

2. Evaluate those argument by showing where they go wrong and/or introducing additional arguments against the conclusion. You are encouraged to provide your own arguments and analysis, but you should also draw on relevant arguments from other course readings where relevant. Even when you rely on arguments from our readings, be sure to present and explain them in your own words. (You are not required to use any sources from outside our course materials for this essay, but if you do, you must cite them.)

3. Be sure to consider how a defender of the original might could respond to your objections and show how you can address those responses.

4. You don’t have to address every possible argument, or even all the arguments raised in our readings. But your choice of which arguments to focus on should show an awareness of the strongest arguments from the available sources.

5. It’s ok to change your position as the result of this evaluation of arguments. If you do, explain how the arguments in the paper lead you to do so.

Suggested Length: 1800-2200 words

Quotations: The purpose of this essay is to show that you understand the arguments from the text and are able to thoughtfully engage with them. For this reason, you need to put the arguments in your own words. If you do quote, you need to explain your interpretation of the quotes you use. Because of the short length of the paper, it will often be better to simply forgo the quote entirely and skip straight to your interpretation. Citing a passage or page number will make it sufficiently clear where your interpretation is coming from.

Academic Honesty: This essay should represent your own work and your own ideas. You don’t need to appeal to any outside sources for this essay. However, if you do rely on any outside sources, you must cite them.