| CODE | MRT5120 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Public Policy and Ethics at the Edges of Human Life | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Moral Theology | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | How should law respond to the moral dilemmas posed by today鈥檚 advances in life sciences and biotechnology? What is the relationship between law and morals? Should an action considered ethically objectionable be legally banned? Do religious communities have the right to participate in the liberal and democratic State鈥檚 responsibility to formulate public policies on biotechnology? This study-unit focuses on a range of vitally important issues relating to human reproductive technologies, prenatal screening and counseling, sex-selection, pre-implantation and pre-symptomatic genetic diagnosis, the moral and legal status of the human embryo, abortion, experimentation on human embryos and fetuses, withholding and withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment, living wills or advanced directives, brain death, euthanasia, geriatric issues. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the course the student should: a) become aware of the relationship between law and morals b) understand the contribution of both secular and religious perspectives on the ethical issues raised by today鈥檚 biotechnology c) learn to argue on the ethical issues at the beginning and end of human life. READING LIST - EVANS, D (ed.), Conceiving the Embryo, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, 1996. - GORMALLY L. (ed.), Euthanasia, Clinical Practice and the Law, Linacre Centre, London, 1994. - HAKER H. & BEYLEVELD D., The Ethics of Genetics in Human Procreation, Ashgate, 2002. - JONES David Albert, The Soul of the Embryo, Continuum, London, 2004 - KUHSE H. & Singer P. (eds.), A Companion to Bioethics, Blackwell, Oxford, 1998. - KUHSE H. & SINGER P., (ed.), Bioethics. An Anthology, Blackwell, Oxford, 1999. - THE PRESIDENT鈥橲 COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS, Taking Care Washington, D.C. 2005. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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