Bioethics and Biotechnology: Syllabus

PHILOSOPHY 336: BIOETHICS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

Spring 2007, Iowa State University

Clark Wolf, Instructor.
435 Catt Hall, jwcwolf@iastate.edu 294-3068
Office Hours: MWF 12:00-1:00

This Site Permanently Under Construction: Check for updates.

STUDY SHEET FOR FINAL EXAM

Class Website and Online Syllabus: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jwcwolf/ClassSyllabi/336S07SYLL.html

Note: You should make sure that you can access the online version of the syllabus, since many class readings will be available only from the syllabus.

Required Texts and Materials:
1) Rollin, B. 2006. Science and Ethics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
2) Silver, L. 2002. Remaking Eden. New York: Perennial.
3) Other class materials will be available over the web, linked from the class syllabus or from the class Web-CT site.
4) Note: Later in the term, I may add to the list of ‘required texts’ if I am unable to gain web-access to needed materials.

Objectives: Twenty-First century biotechnology has given us cloned sheep, genetically modified agricultural crops, genetically engineered animals, new options for human reproduction, and alternatives to change our lives and made decisions to shape the lives of our children and descendants. These new technologies present us with policy choices and personal dilemmas. They often force us to reexamine the moral principles and social policies that govern interpersonal behavior and public policy. This course will provide an opportunity to address some of these choices and policies, and to consider the reasons that lie behind them. We will consider moral principles and policies relevant to the evaluation of new technologies and the options they present.

The issues and problems under discussion in this class are, many of them, pressing moral dilemmas. This means that there are multiple different ways in which they may be resolved and different moral principles we might use to resolve them. However, not all resolutions are equally good or equally justified. Since this is a philosophy course, we will focus our attention on the evaluation of reasons and arguments that might be used to support different claims and positions. While I will hold you responsible for knowing and being able to evaluate arguments on different sides of the issues considered, and will require that you provide well structured arguments for whatever positions you defend, I will not hold you responsible for holding any specific moral position on a controversial question. You are not (of course) required to accept or reject any particular view. Students should expect to gain familiarity wish some of the important ethical issues that arise as a result of advances in biotechnology and changes in biotech policy, and should be able to discuss and write about these issues reasonably and articulately.

Class Procedure: This class will be run in part using the same Socratic Method that is used in most law school classes. I will often begin class by choosing a student to present the main points in the assigned reading. For the most part I will choose students at random, but I will make an effort to insure that all students have an opportunity to speak, and I will keep track. Where material requires, I will sometimes spend substantial portions of the class presenting information and framing the arguments and issues under consideration. But a substantial portion of this class should be structured discussion rather than lecture.

Assignments and Grading: There will be two brief in-class exams, worth 20 points each, and two paper assignments each worth a total of 45% of your final grade. 10% of your grade will be determined by daily reading ‘synopses,’ explained below. The remaining 5% will be determined by attendance and class participation.

Reading Synopses: For each assigned reading, students should turn in a brief but thoughtful synopsis before the beginning of the assigned class period. For some readings, students will also be asked to respond with short responses to one or more questions related to the reading in addition to a synopsis. In general, a synopsis might be no more than a short paragraph long, but should demonstrate a thoughtful understanding of the reading in question. Reading synopses should not be handwritten. Recommended readings can be used as supplemental material for the reading synopsis but the assigned readings are the focus for these reflections.

Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please make arrangements to meet with me during the first two weeks of class. I will gladly make any reasonable accommodations. Please contact a staff member from Disability Resources for help filing a SAAR form specificying the accommodation you will need.

Note on Plagiarism and Academic Honesty: Plagiarism is the wrongful representation of someone else’s work as your own. Plagiarism occurs when someone wrongfully takes words or ideas from another writer or thinker and includes them without citation or reference. It is a form of academic misconduct. Students should avoid this problem by scrupulously citing all resources used in the preparation of class work. All work turned in must be your own.

Class Schedule: Available on the web-version of the syllabus. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jwcwolf/ClassSyllabi/336S07SYLL.html

PART I: INTRODUCTION TO BIOETHICS. JUSTICE, RIGHTS, AND ETHICAL THEORY

JANUARY

M8 Introduction to the Course
W10 Case for Consideration: “The Ashley Treatment” FIRST ASSIGNMENT: The “Ashley Treatment.”

Reading Assignment: Read the two brief articles on your hand out, including the editorial by Arthur Caplan. Then read
Ashley’s parent’s statement at the following website: http://ashleytreatment.spaces.live.com/blog/

Optional Reading: “Growth Attenuation: A diminutive Solution to a Daunting Problem.” Archives of Pediatrics and
Adolescent Medicine, 2006:160. pp. 1077-1078.

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/160/10/1077

Assignment Write a one-page (paragraph or two) paper identifying the ethical issues involved in the decision to adopt the “Ashley Treatment,” and construct an argument in which you either (1) Argue that the Ashley Treatment is unethical, or (2) Argue that the Ashley Treatment is sometimes permissible. Due: In Class Wed.

F12 Ethics and Ethical Theory
Reading: Article: "Ethics" from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL: http://iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm

M15 No Class: University not in session.
W17 Liberty and Morality: Mill
Reading: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter 1. URL: http://www.utilitarianism.com/ol/one.html
F19 Justice: Rawls
Reading: from John Rawls, A Theory of Justice. URL: http://www.public.iastate.edu/%7Ejwcwolf/Papers/Rawls.pdf

M22 Justice, Continued.
        (No new reading assignment, but you might do well to re-read or finish reading Rawls, or to start reading
        Silver Part I)

PART II: THE BEGINNINGS OF LIFE

W24 The Beginning of Life
        Reading: Silver, Part I, LIFE. pp. 17-70
F26: More on Rawls, and Silver.
        No new reading today.

M29 "In Vitro Fertilization" and ART
       Reading: Edwards, “Fertilization of Human Eggs In Vitro: A Defense” (Weblink)
W31 Stem Cell Research
        Reading: Silver, Part II. CREATING LIFE. pp. 73-104.
FEBRUARY F2: Stem Cell Research Case Study:
       Check here for your group assignment so that you will know what to read: GROUP ASSIGNMENTS

M5 Stem Cell Case Study, Continued
W7 Commodification
Reading: Radin, "Market Inalienability"

PART III: REPRODUCTIVE LIBERTY

F9 The Problem of Abortion: The Status of the Fetus.
Reading: Feinberg, "Abortion." pp. 37-57.

M12 The Problem of Abortion: The Problem of Conflicting Claims
       Reading: Feinberg, "Abortion." pp. 57-75.
W14 Reproductive Liberty
        Reading: Robertson, "Non-Coital Reproduction and Reproductive Liberty"
F16 Reproductive Liberty in the Courts
        Reading: Sunstein, "The Constitution and the Clone"

M19 Reproductive Cloning
        Reading: Silver, Part III: Cloning (pp. 107-152)

PART IV: TREATMENT, ENHANCEMENT, AND REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE

W21 Designing Children?
        Reading: Brock, Enhancement of Human Functions: Some Distinctions for Policymakers (In Parens)
F23 Human Improvements and False Images of Perfection
        Reading: Susan Bordo, "Braveheart, Babe, and the Contemporary Body."

M26 Disability Rights Perspective
        Reading: Silvers, "A Fatal Attraction to Normalizing."
W28 Parenthood and the Family
        Reading: Silver, Part IV: Mothers and Fathers, A Variation on a Theme

MARCH F2 The Future of Human Reproduction?
        Reading: Silver, Part V: Tomorrow's Children

M5 Improving our Children
No New Reading Assignment
FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT DUE: 5 MARCH
W7 Catch Up, Review, and Discussion

F9 FIRST IN-CLASS EXAM

MARCH 10-18 SPRING BREAK

M19 Science, Ethics, and Ideology
Reading: Rollin, Ch. 1,2 (This reading is optional not required, but is highly recommended)

W21 Ethics and Biotechnology: Intrinsic Arguments
Reading: Rollin, Ch. 6

F23 Ethics and Animal Biotechnology
Reading: Rollin Ch. 7

M26 Other Ethical Issues in Biotechnology
Reading: Rollin Ch. 8

W28 The Precautionary Principle
Reading: Stich, "The Recombinant DNA Debate."

F30 Golden Rice Case Study http://www.biotech.iastate.edu/publications/case_studies/golden_rice/default.html
Check here for your group assignment so that you will know what to read: GROUP ASSIGNMENTS

NOTE: Readings associated with your group are linked from the image or icon next to the text description of your group in the case study.

APRIL

M2 Intellectual Property: Who Owns Life?
Magnus, Intellectual Property and Agricultural Biotechnology

W4 Shiva, from Biopiracy. (Locke HO in class)

    Not Assigned but Relevant and interesting:
    John Winthrop's "Reasons for the Plantation in New England." 1628.
    The Massachusets Bay Company Charter of 1628-9 in which Charles I of England "gave" land to the colonists.
        (Why did he regard it as his to give away?)

F6 Agriculture and Intellectual Property GROUP ASSIGNMENTS (Same as assignments for Golden Rice Study)
Monsanto v. Schmeiser Case Study NOTE: This link takes you to PART ONE of the case study. Read the materials associated with you assigned group, and come to class prepared to present your case to the Court that will hear the dispute between Monsanto and Percy Schmeiser. Have fun!
(Sarah Heuer, Visiting instructor, Clark out of town: Pacific APA Mtg.)

M9 Moral and Political Arguments for Intellectual property
Reading: Locke, second treatise of Government, Ch V. http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtr05.htm
NOTE: You are only asked to read Chapter V, not the entire treatise!

W4 Legal Background on Biotechnology and Intellectual Property:
SECOND PAPER ASSIGNMENT DISTRIBUTED
Reading: Diamond v. Chakrabarty http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=447&invol=303

[Diamond v. Chakrabarty: Alternative Access Site]

F6 (Clark out of town: NSF-LANGURE Conference meeting)

M16 Patenting People
Reading: Cynthia M. Ho, Splicing Morality and Patent Law: Issues Arising from Mixing Mice and Men, 2 Wash. U. J. of L. and Pol’y 247 (2000)

W18 Patenting People, Continued
(No new reading)

F20 Truth in Food Labels and Consumer Autonomy

Assignment: Look up anything you can find about Monsanto's lawsuit against Oakhurst Dairy. Come to class prepared to discuss the case, and prepared to present the arguments of both parties to the dispute.

M23 Food Labels and Consumer Autonomy

Reading: IDFA v. Amestoy

W25 No additional reading assignment

F27 No additional reading assignment.

SECOND PAPER ASSIGNMENT DUE

FINAL EXAMS: Week of April 30.