Syllabus:

Reproductive ethics, 7.5 credits

The course is discontinued from 2025-05-08

Swedish name: Reproductive ethics

This syllabus is valid: 2014-06-23 and until further notice

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Syllabus for courses starting after 2014-06-23

Syllabus for courses starting before 2014-06-22

Course code: 1FL094

Credit points: 7.5

Education level: Second cycle

Main Field of Study and progress level: Philosophy: Second cycle, has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirements

Grading scale: Pass with distinction, Pass, Fail

Responsible department: Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies

Revised by: Head of Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, 2014-06-19

The course will cover both basic concepts in reproductive ethics (such as the right to reproduce and the right to parent: their content, foundation and scope) and contemporary debates that arise from changes in society or technological progress. Examples of topics include the ethics of actual and prospective reproductive technologies (such as in vitro fertilisation, the derivation of artificial gametes, ectogenesis, human cloning) and of their various applications; the issue of access to the technologies; and how ethics, policy, and reproductive technologies impact upon each other.
The following themes are discussed:

The right to reproduce
Reproduction and parenting: who are children’s parents?
Can it be wrong to reproduce? Is there a responsibility to make certain reproductive decisions rather than others?
Choosing children
Prospective reproductive technologies: in vitro created gametes

Expected learning outcomes

After having completed the course the students will have:

Knowledge and understanding:
- Displayed knowledge and understanding of central concepts, theories, problems and arguments in reproductive ethics.
- Displayed considerable knowledge and understanding of ethical issues concerning human reproduction.

Skill and ability:
- Further developed their ability to analyse arguments in ethics.
- Displayed an ability to write philosophical texts.
- Displayed an ability to express the knowledge and understanding acquired during the course.

Assessment and attitude:
- Displayed insight into the underpinnings of applied ethics and its role in society.

Required Knowledge

90 ECTS courses in philosophy, or a Bachelor’s degree (180 ECTS), or the equivalent. Proficiency in English equivalent to Swedish upper secondary course English A (IELTS (Academic) with a minimum overall score of 5.5 and no individual score below 5.0. TOEFL PBT (Paper-based Test) with a minimum total score of 530 and a minimum TWE score of 4. TOEFL iBT (Internet-based Test) with a minimum total score of 72 and a minimum score of 17 on the Writing Section). Where the language of instruction is Swedish, applicants must prove proficiency in Swedish to the level required for basic eligibility for higher studies.

Form of instruction

The course consists of internet based seminars and tutoring, essay writing and discussion.

Examination modes

The examination consists of writing assignments (of up to 3000 words) and active participation in seminars (which will include short essays as well as participation in the seminars). On the course as a whole, the grades given are Fail (U), Pass (G), or Pass with Distinction (VG). In order to pass the course as a whole, all mandatory parts must be passed as well. The final grade of the course is a summary assessment of the results and the course is passed only after all mandatory parts are passed.
A student who has passed an examination may not be re-examined.
For students who do not pass the regular examination there is another opportunity to do the examination. A student who has failed two examinations for a course or segment of a course, has the right to have another examiner appointed, unless there are special reasons (Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 6, section 22). Requests for new examiners are made to the Faculty of Humanities.

ACADEMIC CREDIT TRANSFER
Transfer of credits is considered individually (see the University Code of Rules and regulations for transfer of credits).

Literature

Valid from: 2014 week 26

Children of choice : freedom and the new reproductive technologies
Robertson John A.
Princeton : Princeton University Press : cop. 1994 : x, 281 s. :
ISBN: 0-691-03353-6 ; CIP entry : $29.95
Mandatory
Search the University Library catalogue
Reading instructions: Chapters 1 and 2.

Is there a Coherent Social Conception of Disability?,
Harris J
Journal of Medical Ethics 26 : 2000 :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: p. 95-100

The Two-Parent Limitation in ART Parentage Law: Old-Fashioned Law for New-Fashioned Families, in D Cutas and S Chan (eds), Families - Beyond the Nuclear Ideal
Lotz Mianna
London: Bloomsbury Academic : 2012 :
Mandatory

Procreative Beneficence: Why we should select the best children
Savulescu J
Bioethics 15; 5-6 : 2001 :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: p 413-426

Will artificial gametes end infertility?
Smajdor A, Cutas D
Health Care Analysis, online first, DOI 10.1007 : 2013 :

Mandatory

Wrongful Life and Procreative Decisions, in Melinda A. Roberts and David T. Wasserman (eds.), Harming Future Persons: Ethics, Ge
Steinbock W
Dordrecht: Springer : 2009 :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: p 155-178

Review essay / Procreative liberty
Steinbock S
Criminal Justice Ethics 15; 1 : 1996 :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: p 67-74

Ethical Aspects of ES Cell-Derived Gametes
Testa G, Harris J
Science 305 : 2004 :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: p 1719

Family History
Velleman D
Philosophical Papers 34; 3 : 2005 :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: p 357-378

Prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion: a challenge to practice and policy
Asch A
American Journal of Public Health 89; 11 : 1999 :
Mandatory
Reading instructions: p 1649-1657