Journal Assignments

You will receive 12 journal assignments over the course of the semester. Your journal entries should be two pages (double-spaced) in length and can be hand-written (only if your handwriting is legible!) or typed (with reasonable font - 12 point - and margins). Your journal must be handed in on time to receive credit. (Due date: When you take the final exam)
[Note: If you are registered for this course through the Honors College or are receiving honors credit, there will be additional journal assignments required. Check with Dr. Bondeson for details.]

Class 2:Identify and discuss the basic issues involved in the Debbie and Quill cases. Based on what you know about these cases, did the doctors involved in each case make the right decisions? Did Diane make the right decision?

Class 3:After reading the Siamese Twins Case what answers would you give to the questions posed in the third paragraph? Given the small odds of saving Angela, should the operation to separate the twins have been performed?

Class 4:Summarize and critically evaluate the views of Singer and Cohen on the issue of using animals in medical experimentation. Should animals be used in medical experiments? If so, should there be guidelines or restrictions for such experiments or should researchers be left to their own discretion to use animals as they see fit?

Class 5:Is suicide ever morally permissible (utilizing one of the ethical theories discussed in the textbook)? Is physician-assisted suicide ever morally permissible? Should the rest of the country follow Oregon's example, or should PAS remain illegal in the U.S.?

Class 6: This case has several characters who have views about whether Dax should or should not continue treatment. Briefly outline and evaluate the views of:

Dax's attorney, Rex Houston

Dax's mother, Mrs. Cowart

the burn unit doctor

the psychiatrist, Dr. White

the plastic surgeon who wants to reconstruct Dax's hands

the physical rehabilitation doctor

Dax's "real" name is Donald R. Cowart. Various characters in the case call him by different names. What are those names? Do you see any significance in the different names? Some commentators have suggested that this case is really about our response to evil and suffering, i.e., why is there suffering in the world and how should we respond to it? Take one or two of the characters (not Dax) and give what you think their views are about this issue. Dr. White, the psychiatrist, and the physical rehabilitation doctor say that their views about medicine have been challenged by working with Dax's case. What do they mean by this? What are Dax's own views about his problems and how do you interpret his final remarks? Is this a case of informed refusal? Is this a case of physician assisted suicide? What values are basic for Dax? Some commentators have suggested that this case is really about control (e.g., controlling what happens to one's self) and about quality of life. Do these play a role in your thinking about this case? This video is produced by a group, Concern for Dying, whose goal is to promote the right of patients to refuse reatment. Is this a piece of propaganda for that point of view?

Class 7: Discuss the reasoning of the Missouri Supreme Court in the Cruzan case. Which of their points do you consider to be the strongest and which the weakest? Do you agree with their decision and why?

Class 9: Is it ever morally acceptable to lie to a patient? Discuss the Australia Case (see link under "Assignments") and decide whether a lie in such a case is permissible. Is it ever morally acceptable to lie to the family of a patient? What if the patient is under 18? Discuss the Waiting Room Case and decide whether lying to the patient's mother in this case is permissible.

Class 10: Discuss the article by Engelhardt in the text in the Impaired Infants section. Outline what Engelhardet says about the rights of parents to make health care decisions for their children. Do you agree with him? Engelhardt seems to give parents rather full control over decisions about their children. Are there any exceptions or limits to this as Engelhardt sees it and as you see it?

Class 11: List and discuss the infringements on autonomy employed by DS in the Case of the Omniscent Organization. Are such infringements morally accepable?

Class 12: Take three diseases: a) Huntrington's, b) anencephaly, and 3) a fictional disease, disease x, which causes a short life of five or six years but with the need for several difficult corrective proceedures. Assume that they are all genetic diseases and that if one parent carries the marker there is a 50/50 chance of passing the marker on. Should the parents in each of these cases procreate in the normal way? Why or why not?

Class 13: Discuss the issues in stem cell research. Would you vote for Federal support for this research.

Class 14: At the moment cloning human beings is highly unsafe and thus it is banned. However, there is a division of opinion about therapeutic cloning with strong opinions on both sides. What is that difference of opinion and what is your view about the merits of therapeutic cloning? Also, suppose that human cloning is completely safe, what would be your view? Consider the views of Leon Kass in your text, pp. 710-715 in your answer.

For some Tips on writing good Journals Click Here.