Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics (DT3060C)

Undergraduate, 18.0 points

Content

This unit examines the biblical perspective on the value of human life and health care, considers the basic principles of Christian health ethics, the primacy of the person and the duty of reasonable care at every stage of human life, and moral principles relevant to the identity of Catholic hospitals. Topics covered include abortion, euthanasia, the withholding of treatment, HIV/AIDS, rape, the anencephalic foetus, transplants of donated organs, the allocation of scarce resources, prenatal diagnosis, treatments for infertility, and reproductive technology.

Unit code: DT3060C

Unit status: Approved (Minor revision)

Points: 18.0

Unit level: Undergraduate Level 3

Unit discipline: Moral Theology

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Catholic Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Articulate an understanding of how the Catholic bioethical principles are based on insights drawn from biblical texts, the Christian tradition, Catholic teaching and sound philosophical reasoning for the good of the human person.
2.

Engage critically with arguments to support a Christian understanding of Bioethics and Healthcare Ethics in response to its secular critics.
3.

Analyse and evaluate arguments for the moral inviolability of human life from conception to death, including cases of voluntary euthanasia.
4.

Clarify the general ethical responsibilities of healthcare professionals in their dealings with patients and/or their children, born or unborn.
5.

Apply Catholic ethical principles in a critical and nuanced manner to frequently occurring cases in the domain of assisted reproductive technology.
6.

Evaluate why some medical treatments may be ordinary or morally obligatory in some circumstances, and not obligatory in different circumstances for other patients.
7.

Assist others in a pastoral situation in making informed decisions on health-related issues in the light of Catholic teaching.

Unit sequence

CT1100C; CT1110C; BS1001C; BS1002C

Pedagogy

Lectures, tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

  • Ashcroft, Richard E., and Raanan Gillon, eds. Principles of Health Care Ethics. 2nd ed. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
  • Ashley, Benedict M., Jean de Blois, and Kevin D. O’Rourke. Health Care Ethics: A Theological Analysis. 5th ed. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2006.
  • Beauchamp, Tom L. and James F. Childress. Principles of Biomedical Ethics. 7th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
  • Catholic Health Australia. Code of Ethical Standards for Catholic Health and Aged Care Services in Australia. Red Hill, ACT: Catholic Health Australia, 2001.
  • Fisher, Anthony. Catholic Bioethics for a New Millennium. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
  • Ford, Norman. The Prenatal Person: Ethics from Conception to Birth. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.
  • Gill, Robin. Health Care and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
  • Lysaught, M Therese. On Moral Medicine: Theological Perspectives in Medical Ethics. Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans, 2012.
  • Morrison, Eileen E., ed. Healthcare Ethics: Critical Issues for the Twenty-First Century. 2nd ed. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2009.
  • Shannon, Thomas and Nicholas Kochler. An Introduction to Bioethics, 4th ed. New York/Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2009.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Seminar or Tutorial

1000-word equivalent tutorial presentation

 1000 20.0
Essay 3000 50.0
Critical Review

1000-word critical review of suggested piece

 1000 30.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 25 Jul, 2023

Unit record last updated: 2023-07-25 15:27:48 +1000