Phil 164 Readings

Some of the readings below are .pdf files and will require the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 6.0.  If you have an older version, you may get errors on the page.  You can download version 6.0 here.

Feldman - "What Is Philosophy?" (1986)

Feldman - "Playing God: A Problem for Physician Assisted Suicide?" (1998)

Heathwood - "Lecture on Playing God"

Noonan - "An Almost Absolute Value in History" (1970)

Stott – "Does Life Begin Before Birth?" (1980)

Hartshorne – "Concerning Abortion: An Attempt at a Rational View" (1981)

OPTIONAL READING: Feldman - "Rape As a Justification for Abortion" (1998)

Gay-Williams, "The Wrongfulness of Euthanasia" (1979)

Brock, "Voluntary Active Euthanasia" (1992)

Cohen, "Why Animals Have No Rights" (1986)

OPTIONAL READING: Gruen, "The Moral Status of Animals" (encyclopedia entry) (2003)

 

Here is a list of the readings assigned so far (last updated 5/3/04):

  1. Rachels, "What Is Morality?"  (handout)
  2. Kuhse and Singer, "Introduction" (Bioethics, pp. 1-6)
  3. Feldman, "What Is Philosophy?" (website)
  4. Feldman, "Playing God: A Problem for Physician Assisted Suicide?" (website)
  5. Heathwood, "Playing God Lecture" (website)
  6. Noonan, "An Almost Absolute Value in History" (website)
  7. Stott, "Does Life Begin Before Birth?" (website)
  8. Harthshorne, "Concerning Abortion: An Attempt at a Rational View" (website)
  9. Marquis, "Why Abortion is Immoral" (Bioethics, pp. 46-57)
  10. Thomson, "A Defense of Abortion" (Bioethics, pp. 36-45)
  11. Gay-Williams, "The Wrongfulness of Euthanasia" (website)
  12. Rachels, "Active and Passive Euthanasia" (Bioethics, pp. 227-230)
  13. Callahan, "When Self-Determination Runs Amok," (especially the section "Calculating the Consequences") (Bioethics, pp. 327-331)
  14. Brock, "Voluntary Active Euthanasia" (website)
  15. Harris, "The Survival Lottery," (pp. 399-403 in Bioethics)
  16. Kant, "Duties Towards Aninmals," (p. 459 in Bioethics)
  17. Bentham, "A Utilitarian View," (p. 460 in Bioethics)
  18. Singer, "All Animals are Equal" (pp. 461-470 in Bioethics)
  19. Cohen, "Why Animals Have No Rights" (website)
  20. OPTIONAL READING: Gruen, "The Moral Status of Animals" (website)
  21. Harris, "'Goodbye Dolly?' The Ethics of Human Cloning" (Bioethics, pp. 143-152).