Cleveland State University



Cuyahoga Community College |Joseph P. DeMarco, Instructor | |Course Syllabus |Division Office of: | |Philosophy 2050 12961 |Social Science Division | |Bioethics |Western Campus | |Spring Semester, 2011, B Session |Web Course | |Three Credits

Phone: 216-536-9165 |Blackboard Course Site

email: joseph.demarco@tri-c.edu | |

Note: Please see Instructor Contact listed in Section VII of this Syllabus for more information on how to contact the instructor. Please also refer to the document listed under "Faculty Information" on the Blackboard web home page of the course for more information on the background of the instructor.

I.  Texts:

Bioscope: A Multimedia Exploration of Bioethics, by DeMarco, Ford, and Jones, Seed Publishing, 2010. This material is available in CD-ROM format at the College Book Centers.  If you cannot come to campus, the College Book Centers can arrange to mail a copy of the CD-ROM to you. The website for textbook ordering is

II. Course Description:

Study and analysis of moral philosophy as applied to issues in health and life sciences with emphasis on developing students’ abilities to correctly identify moral problems and defend their moral judgments.   Note:  The Performance Objectives and Topical Outline for this course have been provided in the final two sections of this syllabus.

III. Goals and Objectives:

There are four main goals of this course.  The first is to provide an understanding of contemporary ethical theory.  The second is to use this understanding as a foundation for analysis and application of bioethical issues and case studies.  The third is to provide an overview and analysis of the most significant issues underlying the field of bioethics.  Fourth and finally, it is hoped that this kind of exposure will enable the student to make more critically effective and enlightened judgments regarding issues of bioethics as a patient, a citizen, and a health care practitioner if applicable.

IV. Prerequisites: Eligibility for ENG-1010 College Composition I

V.  Evaluation Procedure:

The course is divided into three main modules.  For each module of the course the student will be required to take one unit exam worth 80 points and compose one case study analysis worth 20 points. The final unit exam will not be comprehensive, but will only cover material from that module of the course.  The total number of points possible for all assessments is 300 (240 from the three unit exams and 60 from the three case study analyses).  More information on each assessment is provided below. Note: All assessments, except case study analyses which will be available on the Discussion Board, will be available on the Blackboard site under the Assignments link with specific availability dates and times listed in Section VI of this syllabus.

A.      Unit Exams

Unit exams will cover material for each module of the course and as such will not be cumulative. These exams will be comprised of two types of questions, objective and essay. Objective questions will be either multiple choice or true/false. There will be thirty objective questions in each exam. Each question will be worth one point making for a total of 30 points for this section of the exam. In order to properly prepare for the objective exam questions the student should have read all of the assignments and reviewed all of the documents that pertain to that module of the course. Practice quizzes and exams will be provided to allow the student a chance to see what kinds of objective questions will asked and what content they will cover.

Essay exam questions will be used in conjunction with objective exam questions to better gauge the student's overall mastery of the material.  The essay portion of the unit exam will be worth 50 points.  Students should be able to express themselves in these essays in a way that establishes a clear and intelligent understanding of the material. The student may also be called on to justify his/her opinion on various philosophical issues within the essay question. This is a very important skill in that the ability to support one's own opinion is what separates the profound from the mundane. To assist the student in preparing for essay exams practice essay questions will be available for each main issue we cover. The student should attempt to write answers to these practice questions before proceeding with the essay exam.

Please note that all exams must be taken during the week designated according to the schedule listed below in section VI of this syllabus. Finally, the student will only be permitted to take each essay exam once.  More information will be posted on the Blackboard course site with further instructions for successfully completing these exams.

    B.     Case Study Analysis

Each module of the term will include one case study analysis worth twenty points.  Questions will rely on cases available on the Bioscope CD ROM.  Responses will be judged by the students' ability to resolve the ethical dilemmas inherent in each case by applying one or more of the moral theories covered in the course.  Lastly, part of the score for each assignment will include students' critiques of each other.  The first 15 points will be earned through the student's original analysis of the case to be turned in directly to the instructor.  An additional five points will be earned through the critiques.  Further Instructions for completing case study analysis will be posted on the course web site.   

     C. Extra Credit Issues

Should the student receive below a 60% on a discussion question or unit exam except the Module III discussion question and unit exams/he may apply for extra credit work. This work will allow the student to raise his/her grade up to, but not exceeding, a 60% for that assignment. The student must have completed all previous assignments to date and be in good standing in the course in order to be eligible for extra credit. Also, please note that the deadline to apply for extra credit is one week from the original due date of the assignment. No extra credit requests will be granted unless they are made within this time frame.   

     D. Computation of the Final Grade

All of the points earned throughout the term will be totaled and the final grade will be based on the following scale:

270-300 points |A |90-100% average | |240-269 points |B |80-89.9% average | |210-239 points |C |70-79.9% average7 | |180-209 points |D |60-69.9% average | |0-179 points |F |0-59.9% average | |VI. Schedule of Reading Assignments and Exams

IMPORTANT NOTES:

A more detailed assignment schedule with specific dates pertaining to reading and writing assignments and exams will be available in a separate document on the course web site under Start Here > Course Information and the Modules link. It is the student's responsibility to keep up with the readings and due dates for assignments so as to avoid late penalties. For a fuller explanation of late penalties, please see Section XII. For a fuller explanation of the amount of time you should devote to this class, please see section XV labeled "Academic Credit." 

Documents posted on the site under the Modules link contain lecture material and correspond to the assignment schedule. 

All exams as well as instructions for completing exams can be found on the Blackboard site under the Modules link. 

Links to all assessments will be activated at 5:00 a.m. on the first day the assessment becomes available and will expire at 11:00 p.m. on the last day the assessment is available

Module I:

Week Number 1, Moral Theory.

Week Number 2, Medical Futility.

Week Number 3, Exam Week for Module I.

Module II:

Week Number 4, Informed Consent

Week Number 5, Assessing Capacity

Week Number 6, Exam Week for Module II.

Module II:

Week Number 7, Clinical Trials

Week Number 8, Part I, Justice and Access to Health Care

Week Number 8, Part II, Exam Week for Module III.

Instructor Contact:

Cuyahoga Community College |Joseph P. DeMarco, Instructor | |Course Syllabus |Division Office of: | |Philosophy 2050 12961 |Social Science Division | |Bioethics |Western Campus | |Spring Semester, 2011, B Session |Web Course | |Three Credits

Phone: 216-536-9165 |Blackboard Course Site

email: joseph.demarco@tri-c.edu | |VIII.  Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information you need to make the instructor aware of, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please contact the instructor by making a personal appointment or by using the above information regarding instructor contact.  For specific information pertaining to accommodations, contact the ACCESS office, 216-987-5079, TDD 216-987-5117.

IX. Conduct Policies

Be advised that rules for student conduct apply in the on-line environment. Any use of electronic communication on CCC’s network (which includes Web-based courses and Blackboard communication features) for flaming or other kinds of harassment will be treated as a student conduct violation. Please review the document entitled "Conduct Policies" posted under "Course Information" for a detailed description of the conduct policies for this course. It is your responsibility to be aware of these policies and to adhere to them. 

X.     Intellectual Dishonesty:

To plagiarize is defined by the American Heritage College Dictionary as “to use and pass off as one’s own work (the ideas or writings of another).”  This means that all academic work will be done by the student to whom it is assigned, without unauthorized aid of any kind.  Any acts of academic dishonesty including plagiarism that are detected by the instructor may result in any or all of the following actions:

Penalty points deducted from the assignment.

Zero points allowed for the assignment.

A letter grade penalty from the final grade in the course.

A failing grade for the course.

Students should refer to College Policy 40 040 045 for more details.

XI. Make-up Procedures:

All make-up requests for exams that were not completed by the assigned due date must be made within one week of the original due date. If a request to make up an exam is not made within the one week time frame, a score of zero (0) will be given for the exam.  All make-ups will be penalized ten percent. Exceptions to this penalty will be left to the discretion of the instructor. Note: Penalties will double for repeated make-up requests.  No extra credit will be available for assessments completed through the make-up procedure. Since essay exams can only be submitted once, a ten percent penalty will be assessed for all bad transmissions of these exams.  Exceptions to this penalty will be left to the discretion of the instructor. Note: Penalties will double for repeated bad transmissions.  All assessments are timed.  Blackboard will still accept assessments if they exceed the time limit, but penalty points will be assessed at a rate of 5% for every five minutes the time limit is exceeded.  Thus an exam that is one second over the time limit will be penalized 5%, an exam that is five minutes and one second over the time limit will be penalized 10%, etc.  Late posts will be accepted for Discussion Board assignments with a 10% penalty up to one week from the original due date for each assignment.

XII.  Withdrawal:

Students may withdraw for any reason from any semester course prior to 80 percent of any instructional part of the term. Specific withdrawal dates are available by term in the

Campus Admissions and Records Offices or published in the schedule of courses. It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of these dates and to comply with them.

All transactions involving withdrawal from courses shall be done in writing, on forms provided by the college, and submitted by the deadline posted in the course schedule booklet for this term.

XIII.  Incomplete (I) Grades:

If at any time throughout the term an incomplete grade is desired by a student it is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor regarding this matter before the term ends. The college policy will be enforced for this course regarding the incomplete procedure and it is stated as follows: A notation of “I” indicates that a student has not completed all course requirements as a result of circumstances judged by the instructor to be beyond the student’s control. A student must complete all course requirements no later than the end of the sixth week of the academic term in which the “I” was noted. Failure to complete such requirements will result in an “F” (failing) grade. Please refer to the course schedule booklet to determine the last day an incomplete grade change can be completed for the previous term.  Also, please note that no grade of Incomplete (I) will be awarded to any student unless all assessments except the final exam are completed.  If assessments besides the final objective and essay exams are not completed a grade of "F" will be given rather than the grade of  "I".  This is to help insure the integrity of the incomplete grade.

XIV.            Academic Credit:

In order to award one (1) semester hour of college credit, the Ohio Board of Regents requires two hours of significant study outside of class for each one hour in class for the equivalent of an academic semester (16 weeks). Since this is a three credit hour class with no in class lecture hours, the required course load requirement would be an average of nine hours of effective student effort per week for the entire semester.  This per week average increases as courses are accelerated.  Since this is an eight week course the weekly average would be approximately 18 hours.

Course requirements have been designed to comply with the requirements of the Board of Regents. Proper planning, prioritization and dedication will enhance your success in this course.

One final note. The instructor reserves the right to amend this syllabus in order to maximize the effectiveness of the course. It is the student’s responsibility to stay abreast of any such changes.

XV. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES:

Upon successful completion of PHIL-2050 Bioethics, the student should be able to:

Identify major components of health care ethics and health care law.

Identify major components of ethical theory such as

Normative theories of obligation: the rule theory, the act theory, deontology, and teleology.

Identify major components of moral theories of obligation.

Teleology: egoism, hedonism, utilitarianism.

Deontology: strong and weak.

Identify major moral principles such as

Principle of autonomy.

Principle of beneficence.

Principle of benevolence.

Moral good.

Principle of justice.

Law and morality.

Nature of moral obligation.

Utilitarianism.

Moral values.

Apply the above moral principles to ethical issues in medicine including

Issues at the beginning of life.

Birth defects.

Experimentation.

Health care.

Allocation of health resources.

Paternalism.

Practitioner-patient relationship.

Truth-telling.

Moral agency of the professional.

Ethical and unethical demands of the employer, of professional societies, and of the general society.

Develop a model of ethical decision making and successfully implement it by

Identifying case details and morally relevant facts.

Identifying analogous moral and legal cases.

Determining moral maxims and legal laws.

Accumulation arguments for particular moral and legal judgments.

Resolving any conflicting judgments.

Making a defensible and definitive moral and legal judgment.

XVI. TOPICAL OUTLINE:

Introduction to health care ethics and health care law

History of the clinical ethics movement

Nazi Germany and the Nuremberg Code

research abuses in the United States

the National Research Act

medical discovery and technology

the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical Research

major U. S. court cases

Health care law

basic types

contract law

tort law

assault and battery

liability

professional and personal liability

Good Samaritan law

Respondent Superior

Doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquitur

community

negligence vs. duty: contributory

malpractice: burden of proof

standards of care

statutory regulations and limitations

the law and ethics of medical care

acting vs. failing to act

withholding vs. withdrawing treatment

Doctrine of Double Effect

confidentiality

disclosure

mandatory testing

whistle blowing

Introduction to ethical theory

Empirical ethics: what one does

Philosophical ethics

what one ought to do

normative theories of obligation

rule theory: prima facie

act theory

summary guidelines

reasonable justification

deontology

strong

act

rule

weak

act

rule

teleology

act

rule

value theory

mental

objective

monism

pluralism

extrinsic

intrinsic

metaethics

freewill

relativism

definism

natural

nonnatural

nondefinism: direct perception

cognitivism

definist

objective moral truth

objective moral knowledge

noncognitivism

commands

wishes

emotions

persuasions

logic and moral reasoning: the role of reassigning in moral judgments

types of norms or laws

physical laws

legal laws

religious norms

social norms

ethical norms

Moral theories of obligation

teleology

egoism

hedonism

utilitarianism

deontology

strong

weak

normative principles of obligation

altruism

beneficence

benevolence

duty: prima facie

justice

veracity

Major moral principles

principle of altruism

principle of autonomy

principle of beneficence

principle of benevolence

principle of duty

egoism

moral good

hedonism

principle of justice

law and morality

nature of moral obligation

utilitarianism

principle of veracity

moral values

Apply the above moral principles to ethical issues in medicinea. issues at the beginning of life

right of and responsibility of reproduction

abortion

contraception

humanity of fetus

determination

development of self-awareness

ontological status

viability

legal position

participation in

mother's rights versus fetus's rights

suffering and pain

value of life

quantity

quality

birth defects

patient's right to know

parent's right not to be tested

family's health vs. patient's health

conflicting loyalties

institution

patient

physician

issues at the end of life

euthanasia

terminal patients

informed consent

suicide

assisted suicide

life supports

forgoing life support

withdrawing and withholding treatment

extraordinary and ordinary means

do-not-resuscitate orders (DNR)

quality of life

practitioners-patient relationship

refusal of treatment

care for the terminally ill

palliative care

hospice

issues in pain control

refusal of treatment

no active termination of life

advanced directives

Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA)

living wills and durable powers of attorney

patient values history

major court cases

hospital's right to discharge a dying patient vs. patient's right to have palliative care

experimentation

informed consent

information for patients

right to consent

terminally ill

practitioner-patient relationship

health care

cost efficiency

nature and value of

quality and equality

right to

allocation of health resources

distributive justice

scarce resources

rationing

triage

access to health care

insured

uninsured

emergencies

causation, damages, and scope of duty

paternalism

children

commitment of mentally ill

compulsory sterilization of mentally ill or physically defective

prevention of harm to others

welfare of individual

practitioner-patient relationship

basic models of

activity-passivity

guidance-cooperation

mutual participation

patient-centered encounters and communication

informed consent

basic elements

barriers

confidentiality and privileged communication

truth-telling and deceit

patient compliance

infectious diseases and the professional

duty to treat infected patients

duties and rights of the infected professional

documentation in the patient medical record

truth telling

cancer patients

denial mechanism

depression

duty patient awareness

suicide

necessary or white lies

moral agency of the professional

clinical skills, competence, and standards

licensure

accreditation

certification

codes of ethics

associations and continuing education

character traits and virtues

compassion and caring

fidelity

veracity

paternalism

adoption: legal and ethical issues

putting a child up for adoption

adopting a child

special needs of the adoptive child

foreign adoption

mixed race adoption

mixed culture adoption

ethical and unethical demands of the employer, of the professional societies, and of the general society

responsibilities to self and personal integrity

peer relationships: team support and challenges

employer demands and conflicts of interest: whistle blowing

the professional and a good citizen

A model of ethical decision making

steps in making a defensible and definitive moral and legal judgment: identification of case details

identifying the morally relevant facts

identification of analogous moral and legal cases

determination of applicable moral maxims and legal laws

accumulation of arguments for particular moral and legal judgments

resolution of any conflicting judgments

making a defensible and definitive moral and legal judgment

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