Human
bioethics
Philosophy
http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/schools/plb/
Room W907, West Wing, Menzies building, Clayton campus
+
61 3 9905 3209
The School of Philosophy and Bioethics pursues a deeper understanding of what
people are doing when they reason and make moral choices. The major research
strengths of the school lie in logic and metaphysics, applied ethics and moral
philosophy.
The school runs programs in two disciplines: philosophy and bioethics, each of
which articulates conceptions of the nature of the world we live in and offers
conceptions of life within a tolerant, liberal society. Research and teaching
are conducted with reference to traditional theoretical frameworks as well as
to the study of contemporary issues, at times challenging some of the
traditional notions and leading to theory development and modification. Fields
of study within the school include the history of ideas, world religions, and
contemporary issues such as ethics in a changing world.
Foundational ethical frameworks are brought to bear on specific issues in
political theory, in professional ethics, and especially in dealing with the
moral concerns that arise out of the application of new scientific advances to
human subjects.
Philosophy
is the study of fundamental ideas about the world we live in. It questions the
nature of our world, asks what would constitute a good life in such a world,
and asks what could be done to make it better.
Students are not expected to be persuaded by the doctrines of any one school or
tradition. Rather, we seek to deepen the understanding of a variety of
different world views. Students are encouraged to express any conclusions they
themselves may have reached concerning foundational questions, but they are
also expected to try to understand some of the influential conclusions others
have reached. Furthermore, it is essential that students try to understand what
reasons people have had for reaching those conclusions. Thus, we strongly
encourage students to study the theory of reasoning (logic) if they intend to
major in philosophy.
The following are some other areas of study that are central to philosophy.
Metaphysics is the study of what sorts of things exist in the world, and how
they are related: for instance, whether there is a mind or soul and if so, how
it is related to the body. Epistemology is the study of what constitutes
knowledge of the world, and of what methods can be used to obtain it. Ethics
and aesthetics investigate what it is to make value judgements, and how such
judgements can be justified. Political philosophy attempts to discover the
principles that underlie the structure of a good society. Philosophy of
language investigates the notions of meaning, truth and linguistic
understanding. Philosophy of mind studies the nature of the conscious mind.
Every human inquiry rests on general assumptions, which we take for granted
while we pursue more particular goals. At times however, in any discipline,
foundational questions arise. Anyone facing such questions, in any discipline,
is studying philosophy. Thus, for any discipline, there is an area of study
appropriately described as the philosophy of that discipline, for example the
philosophy of history, of psychology, of biology, of science, of law, of
mathematics, and so on.
Sometimes these foundational questions within a discipline can profitably be
explored by philosophers as well as by specialists in that discipline.
Philosophers can draw connections between the foundational problems arising in
one discipline and those arising in other disciplines. They can also attempt to
integrate different disciplines, at a foundational level, into a coherent
overall world view.
Because the focus of philosophical concerns varies enormously, we provide a
wide range of options for study while at the same time attempting to ensure
that students have some acquaintance with the central problems and traditions
in philosophy. Philosophy provides skills in reasoning and argument that are
applicable in a wide variety of professions as well as the opportunity to
engage in a reflective appraisal of our place in the universe.
Students wanting advice should first approach their tutors or lecturers in individual units. Students may also wish to approach the appropriate year-level coordinator. Year coordinators for 2005 will be Karen Green (first, second and third years), Toby Handfield (fourth year), Robert Sparrow (graduate coursework) and Dirk Baltzly (graduate research).
Sufficient
philosophy units are offered in flexible mode to complete a major. All these
units can be taken in any semester and are flexibly scheduled so that class
commitments are kept to a minimum. Flexible learning mode units are also
available in the summer and in off-campus learning mode. These units use Open
Learning materials, but there is also a tutorial support service operating by
telephone, fax and email. These basic resources are usually supplemented by two
one-day workshops. The intention is that the flexible learning program should
make philosophy units available to students whose work or other commitments
make it difficult for them to attend regular classes On-campus. For more details
on flexible learning units, contact room W905 in the philosophy office or visit
its website.
Closely associated with resource-based teaching is an alternative assessment
program. The Keller Plan is used in most of these units. In the plan, a series
of assessment tasks are completed in a specified order. Typically, the series
involves short exercises, an essay and tests. Each task has to be completed at
a satisfactory standard before moving on to the next, but students nominate the
standard to count as satisfactory (pass, credit or distinction) and can retry
on any task until that standard is achieved.
A first-year sequence in philosophy is the normal prerequisite for later-year
philosophy units. However, some later-year units have only one philosophy unit
as a prerequisite, and some others have no philosophy prerequisite at all.
The growth of scientific knowledge and technical ability in medicine, genetics and the biological sciences has led to a number of ethical problems which perplex all of us, but especially those in the health care field. Is human embryonic stem cell research justified by the prospect it offers of alleviating some of the most debilitating diseases? Is genetic enhancement of humans ethically justified? Is it unethical to select embryos for implantation on the basis of sex? Should research designed to find 'gay genes' be conducted given that the results of such work might be used against homosexual people? Should we proceed with research trying to clone people? Does the fact that we can prolong the life of a patient in a permanent vegetative state mean that we should do so? At the Centre for Human Bioethics (CHB), we are attempting to develop our ethical thinking so as to keep pace with advances in biomedical technology. Furthermore, we can anticipate future developments and assess what we might do if and when these anticipated developments become a reality.
The
Centre for Human Bioethics has developed two new first-year undergraduate units
in bioethics, commencing in 2005: CHB1010 (Ethics, biotechnology and genetics:
current issues in bioethics) and CHB1020 (Ethics, genetics and the law: justice
and the new biotechnologies). CHB1010 examines ethical issues raised by
practices such as embryonic stem cell research, genetic enhancement, cloning,
preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the creation of cross-species hybrids.
CHB1020 examines ethical, legal and policy issues raised by practices such as
eugenics, genetic engineering, testing of pharmaceuticals in developing
countries and pharmacogenomics.
For details of the following courses, see `Outline of undergraduate studies'
earlier in this section:
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