- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
(in Polish) Ethics of End-of-Life Issues 3501-ELE19-S-OG
The course is focused on the main moral problems of end of life and provides a relevant ethical knowledge (concepts, theories, principles, rules and arguments) as a general framework for interpreting and analysing moral issues arising in terminal care as well as teaches methods of case analysis. The course aims at making students aware of the normative aspects of medical decisions made in terminal care, clarifying the most important philosophical approaches to medico-moral reflection, that is the philosophical context of ethical theories and their practical application as well as normative positions in end-of-life ethics. The course aims at developing the students’ skills in recognizing the moral dimensions of end of life and their ability to think critically about moral issues arising in terminal care. The course develops students’ ability to analyze critically moral arguments, making them able to formulate and support with clear reasoning their medico-moral judgments concerning terminal care.
Problem of death in analytical philosophy and phenomenology. Evolution of the definition and criteria of death. Dying – changes in the attitudes to death and dying in Western culture according to Ph. Ariès. Is cultural thanatology just the science fiction to the Past? Michel Vovelle analyses of cultural thanatology. The phenomenon of medicalization of death. Dying in post-modernity: liberal pattern of full control and communitarian pattern of peaceful death. The concept of terminal stage and terminal phase. Ethical foundations of medical thanatology. Informed consent in terminal care. Ordinary and extraordinary means. Medical futility. Minimal (basic) means. Principle of double effect and analgesia of terminally ill patients. Palliative sedation. Ethical analyses of commissions and omissions, withholding and withdrawal. Ethical aspects of artificial feeding and hydrating in terminal care. End-of-life controversies. Advance directives. DNR. Quality of life: theories and methods of assessment. Ethical and legal issues concerning euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Palliative care and terminal care. Hospice movement: development of forms of hospice care.
Type of course
general courses
Mode
Learning outcomes
After the course the student
Knowledge
- knows and understands multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary terminology of end-of-life ethical discussions
- has a profound knowledge of fundamental ethical problems of end-of-life care
- has a clear in-depth knowledge of main philosophical ideas, normative approaches and argument strategies employed in today debates concerning terminal medicine and end-of-life care
Skills
- is able to perform a critical analysis of the subject literature, as well as views and opinions of relevant authors, including the seminar participants
- is able to recognize, interpret and analyze problems and conflicting ethical stances in end-of-life discussions
- is able to construct and re-construct advanced factual and normative arguments, as well as address and refute the counterarguments
- has a developed skill to prepare oral presentations on the seminar subject matters
- has a developed skill to write analytical and critical papers concerning the seminar issues
- is able to carry on advanced research under the seminar leader’s tutorship, involving data query, analysis and assessment
- is able to integrate the outcomes of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research into bioethical knowledge
- has a good command of English (B2+level)
Social competencies
- recognizes the significance of ethical inquiry for the development of science, technology, civilization and society
- undertakes, initiates, plans and structures research proving reliability, prudence and commitment
- is able to co-operate as a leader as well as a member of a team
Assessment criteria
Final grade depends on:
Active participation in the seminars (attendance, preparation, participation in discussions) – 40%
Preparation & oral delivery of presentation – 20%
Critique of a paper concerning seminar subject (in writing) – 20%
The case/problem analysis (in writing) – 20%
Bibliography
- Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School to Examine the Definition of Brain Death, (1968).
- G.S Belkin, Death before Dying, Oxford University Press, Oxford – New York 2014.
- D. Birnbacher, E. Dahl (eds.), Giving Death a Helping Hand, International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine 38, Springer 2008.
- D. Callahan, The Troubled Dream of Life. In Search of a Peaceful Death, Simon&Schuster, New York-London 1993;
- D. Callahan,The Tyranny of Survival and Other Pathologies of Civilized Life, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York 1973.
- M.J. Cholbi (ed.), Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, Praeger, Santa Barbara-Denver 2017.
- J. M. Fischer (ed.), The Metaphysics of Death, Stanford University Press, Stanford 1993.
- P. Lee, Total Brain Death and the Integration of the Body Required of a Human Being. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 2016,41, 300 – 314. Doi:10.1093/jmp/jhw005
- J.P. Lizza, Defining death: beyond biology. Diametros 2018, 55, 1–19. DOI: 10.13153/diam.1172
- J. McMahan, The Ethics of Killing: Problems at the Margins of Life, Oxford University Press 2003.
- J. Malpas, R. C. Solomon (eds.), Death and Philosophy, Routledge, London - New York 1998.
- D. Marquis, Death is a biological phenomenon. Diametros 2018, 55, 20–26. DOI: 10.13153/diam.1173
- F. G. Miller, R.D. Truog, Death, Dying, and Organ Transplantation. Reconstructing Medical Ethics at the End of Life. Oxford University Press, Oxford – New York 2012.
- M. Nair- Collins, A biological theory of death: characterization, justification, and implications. Diametros 2018, 55, 27–43. DOI: 10.13153/diam.1174
- President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1981). Defining Death. https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/559345/defining_death.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- President’s Council of Bioethics. (2008). Controversies in the Determination of Death. A White Paper. https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/559343/Controversies%20in%20the%20Determination%20of%20Death%20for%20the%20Web.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- M. Pabst Battin, Ending Life, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005.
- Uniform Determination of Death Act (1981). http://www.lchc.ucsd.edu/cogn_150/Readings/death_act.pdf
- M. Warnock, E. Macdonald, Easeful Death, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2009.
- M. Webb, The Good Death. The New American Search to Reshape the End of Life, Bantam Books, New York 1999.
- W: R. Zaner (ed.), Death: Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht-Boston-London 1988.
- S.J. Youngner, G.K. Kimsma, Physician-Assisted Death in Perspective. Assessing the Dutch Experience, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2012.
Additional information
Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:
- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: