SCHEDULE (with links to articles)

Course materials

1.     Kuhse and Singer, Bioethics – buy at bookstore

2.     Articles – linked below – those labeled “bb” or “smu” require smu id and password -- some of the links aren't here yet but will be added over the course of the semester.

3.     Movies – you can obtain at Fondren or via a service like Netflix.  You'll be watching these before class, not during class.

Ethics toolkit

F Jan 17: Dissecting moral problems. Fernandez and Eckholm, “Pregnant and forced to stay on life support”

W Jan 22:  Basic moral concepts   Curry, “Let Munoz die”; Davis, “Maybe it’s not time to say goodbye…” ; Caplan and Mayo, “’Life support is wrong…”

Should we have children?

F Jan 24: We should.  Smilansky, “Is there a moral obligation to have children?” (bb)

M Jan 27: We should not.  Benatar, “Why it is better never to come into existence” (bb)

W Jan 29: Does Benatar denigrate mothers?  Overall, excerpt from “Why have children?” (bb)

F Jan 31: Not without a license.  LaFollette, “Licensing parents”

M Feb 3: The population objection.  China’s one child policy  (have a look at this wikipedia article); Caplan, “Population, fertility, and liberty”

W Feb 5: For and against same sex parenting. April Martin, “Lesbian Parenting” (bb);  Family Research Council, “Ten Arguments”   DEBATE 1 homework likely

Is it wrong to terminate a pregnancy?

F Feb 7: Fetuses and us. Olson, “Was I ever a fetus?”

M Feb 10: A conservative argument. Finnis, “Abortion and health care ethics” (Bioethics)

W Feb 12:  A liberal argument. Thomson, “A defense of abortion” (Bioethics) homework likely

F Feb 14:  Is it virtuous to stay pregnant? Movie: Juno

When is assisted reproduction unethical?

M Feb 17:  Surrogate mothers here and there. Thernstrom, “Meet the Twiblings”; Carney, excerpt from The Red Market (bb)  DEBATE 2 homework likely

W Feb 19: Is surrogacy empowering or exploitative? Purdy, “Surrogate mothering (Bioethics); Dodds and Jones, “A Response to Purdy” (Bioethics)

F Feb 21:  Cutting edge reproduction.  Robertson, “Reproductive rights and reproductive technology in 2030”

Is it right to avoid disabilities? Or should we accept or even pursue them?

M Feb 24: Some hard puzzles. Kavka, “The paradox of future individuals” (bb)

W Feb 26:  Against selection. Asch,  “Prenatal diagnosis” (Bioethics); Movie:  Gattacca  homework likely 
F Feb 28: When selection is right.  Steinbock and McClamrock, “When is birth unfair to the child?”           

M Mar 3: Deliberately choosing deafness.  Davis, “Genetic dilemmas…” (Bioethics)

Is gender selection OK?

W Mar 5: A defense of gender selection. Savulescu, “Sex selection” (Bioethics)  DEBATE 3

F Mar 7: A critique of gender selection. McDougall, “Acting parentally”   PAPER I DUE

Should we have the best children we can? Should we improve the human race?

M Mar 17: We should have the very best kids we can. Savulescu, “Procreative beneficence”            

W Mar 19: Against designer babies. Sandel, “The case against perfection”

F Mar 21:  Making better people Glover, “Questions about some uses of genetic engineering” (Bioethics) 

What are the rights of fathers?  What makes a child yours?

M Mar 24: Are fathers victims of discrimination? Benatar, The Second Sexism pp. 50-53 and 137-42 (bb) 

W Mar 26:  When should fathers have custody?  Shanley, “Fathers rights and mothers wrongs”(bb)

Friday Mar 28: McKenna v. Miller  Eckholm, “Custody battle raises questions” DEBATE 4

Should parents adhere to gender norms?

M Mar 31:  Pink and blue. Fausto-Sterling, excerpt from Sex/Gender (bb)

W Apr 2:  Should parents teach gender roles? Poisson, “When parents keep child’s gender a secret” ; Erdely, “About a girl”  DEBATE 5 homework

F Apr 4: Should mothers and fathers share parenting equally? Saul, "The politics of work and family" (bb)

Do children have rights? What rights do they have?

M Apr 7: For children’s rights. Feinberg,  “The child's right to an open future” (bb); UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

W Apr 9: Parental ethics isn’t rights-based.  Schrag, "Children's rights and needs" (bb)

F Apr 11: Circumcision ethics.   Benatar and Benatar, " Between prophylaxis and child abuse ..." (bb); Darby, “The child’s right to an open future”  (bb)  DEBATE 6

M Apr 14:  Lying to children.  Kind, “Creative mothering…” (bb)

W Apr 16:  Teenagers’ rights. Archard, “Children’s right to vote and sexual choice” (bb);

M Apr 21: Parents who refuse medical treatment.  Orr et al, “Faith-based decisions”   

W Apr 23:  The vaccination debate (watch the video we saw Monday if you were absent)  Stemwedel, "The ethics of opting out of vaccination"

What duties do adult children have to their parents?

    

F Apr 25:  They owe their parents nothing. English, “What do grown children owe their parents?”  Movie: Mildred Pierce (click to view)

M Apr 28:  Filial duties, Chinese style.  Wang, “The Confucian filial obligation…” ; Amy Chua, “Why Chinese mothers are superior”

Does having children make parents’ lives better?

W Apr 30: Parenthood and happiness. Lyubomirsky, “Why kids don’t make us happy” ; Caplan, “The breeders cup”

F May 2: The meaning of life.  Kazez, “Family Ties”

M May 5:Voluntarily childlessness.  Sandler, “None is enough”  PAPER II DUE