Postgraduate - UnitAPR5394 - Questions of life and death

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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0 points, SCA Band 1, 0.000 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Centre for Human Bioethics
Offered	Not offered in 2014
Coordinator(s)	Professor Michael Selgelid

Synopsis

This unit examines a variety of ethical issues concerning the beginning and end of life, such as the morality of abortion, infanticide, and causing death. The unit also deals with the ethical problems raised by new reproductive research and biomedical technologies, such as embryo experimentation, cloning, genetic counselling, genetic therapy and genetic engineering. There will be discussion of a range of philosophical problems central to these issues, including the sanctity of life doctrine, notions of potentiality, the nature of personhood, the acts/omissions distinction, and the definition of death.

Assessment

Written work (6500 words): 75%
Take-home exam (2500 words): 25%

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Michael Selgelid

Workload requirements

One x 2.5-hour seminar per week

Off-campus attendance requirements

For off-campus students: no timetabled contact hours although students are welcome to attend seminars for on-campus students when the unit is running in both modes.

Prohibitions

APG5394