Healthcare Ethics in the Catholic Tradition

This seminar (a combination of lecture, discussion, and case analysis format) will introduce principles and perspectives for biomedical ethics. The course is divided into two sections. The first part of the course will examine basic themes, principles, methodologies, and professional responsibilities in healthcare ethics. Special attention will be given to Catholic Church teaching and the Catholic tradition of moral reflection more generally, comparing and contrasting it with the currently dominant secular approach to bioethics. In the second section, we will examine particular ethical issues for healthcare ethics, employing the case analysis method. We will seek to bring to bear our earlier ethics and theological explorations as well as practical wisdom in our evaluations of these cases. Students will present analysis of particular problems, and others will respond to their analysis.