Autonomy and dignity

Questions January 23

Questions pertaining to the assigned reading will normally be posted prior to each class.Always share your thoughts in the comments space below each day's post (at least three comments per class, so you can shade the whole diamond on the scorecard when you come to class and receive full participation credit each time... more than that gets you extra credit). Give yourself a base on the scorecard for every question you posted a response to before class. (You can also respond to your own questions(s) or your classmates' posted comments. Respond not merely with the authors' textual statements but also with your own thoughts & reflections.) 25 exam questions will pertain to the required texts. Additional bonus questions pertaining to the recommended texts will also appear. 

What is Bioethics? (Basics 1); Premonition Intro/prologue/1

1. "Bioethics" just means what?
2. What 40-year U.S. study denied information and treatment to its subjects?
3. What did Ivan Ilich warn about in Medical Nemesis?
4. In what issues has the WHO been very active?
5. How has Bioethics broadened its horizons?
6. Bioethics has broken free of what mentality?
7. With what must the main method of Bioethics be concerned?
8. Are there any important bioethical issues you think Campbell has neglected to mention in ch.1 

1. Lewis's previous book asked what question?
2. What did The Lancet point out about the COVID death rate in the U.S.?
3. Bob Glass learned what, that he'd had no idea of, in The Great Influenza? Did you know that, before COVID?
4. How did young Charity Dean cheer herself up?
5. (Your Premonition questions)

Introductions

Welcome, Bioethics class of '25! Let's introduce ourselves (mine's in the right sidebar, scroll down 'til you see "JPO bio"). Who are you? Why are you here? What else, by way of introduction, would you like to share?

Looking forward to meeting everyone on January 21.

jpo (Dr. Oliver)

phil.oliver@mtsu.edu

Polio redux?

As Polio Survivors Watch Kennedy Confirmation, All Eyes Are on McConnell

Their numbers are dwindling now, the faded yellow newspaper clippings reporting their childhood trips to the hospital tucked away in family scrapbooks. Iron lungs, the coffin-like cabinet respirators that kept many of them alive, are a thing of the past, relegated to history books and museums. Some feel the world has forgotten them.

Now the nation's polio survivors are reliving their painful memories as they watch events in Washington, where the Senate will soon consider the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a fierce critic of vaccines, to be the nation's next health secretary. And they are keeping a close eye on one of their own: Senator Mitch McConnell, the former Republican leader.

It has been nearly 70 years since Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine was pronounced "80 to 90 percent effective" against the paralytic form of the disease. Although the government does not keep official numbers, advocacy groups say there are an estimated 300,000 survivorsin the United States. Mr. Kennedy's nomination has prompted some to speak out...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/us/politics/kennedy-confirmation-polio-survivors.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

The Centuries-Old, Incredibly Male Quest to Live Forever

The longevity industry is coming off perhaps its best run on record. The expected span of an American life has increased by about three decades since 1900 — to around 78 as of 2023. But for many people, even 78 years just won't do.

The Methuselah Foundation, a biomedical charity, for example, wants to "make 90 the new 50," and scientists at one biotechnology firm have argued that, unencumbered by disease, the body could potentially make it all the way to age 150. Even more optimistic estimates put the number closer to 1,000.

​​Whatever the maximum human life span may be, people appear increasingly determined to find it — in particular men, who are more inclined to favor radically extending life, maybe even indefinitely. Last year, nearly 6,000 studies of longevity made their way onto PubMed, a database of biomedical and life sciences papers; that's almost five times as many as two decades ago.

Along with the creation of dozens of popular podcasts and a sizable supplement industry, that zeal has led to efforts to preserve organs, search out life-extending diets and even try to reverse aging itself. It's the same mix of solid science, quixotic experimentation and questionable advice that has, for much of recorded history, defined the pursuit...

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/18/well/longevity-history.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Disruptive avatar

That's another name for Philosopher, at least the sort fashioned in a Socratic mold. Agnes Callard's new book is out just in time for the start of our semester. (And she'll be our Lyceum guest in March.) Can't wait to resume my disruptive vocation on Tuesday. There will be questions, starting as always with "Who are you? Why are you here?" And why are we?

"Socrates did not write great books. And yet he is responsible for one truly great creation: the character of Socrates. Socrates made himself into someone that other people could be. He fashioned his very person into a kind of avatar or mascot for anyone who ventures to ask the sorts of questions that disrupt the course of a life."

— Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life by Agnes Callard

Syllabus 2025

(stay tuned)

[The syllabus is subject to revision. Always consult the "Next" section in the upper right corner of our Home Page, for recent changes and other announcements.]

PHILOSOPHY 3345 Bioethics                                                                                

Spring 2025

4:20-5:45 pm, JUB 204

Dr. Phil Oliver, phil.oliver@mtsu.edu - 898-2050, 898-2907 (philosophy dept.), 525-7865.

OFFICE HOURS: TTh 11-12:30 & by appointment, MWF 4-5 by appt. via Zoom. James Union Building 300 (but check the message board on my door on "nice" days and at lunchtime, or maybe call first ). I answer emails mostly during office hours, never on weekends. Best way to secure a quick response: call or come in during office hours.

• Bioethics: The Basics (Campbell) ”...the word ‘bioethics’ just means the ethics of life…”

• Beyond Bioethics (Obasogie) “Bioethics’ traditional emphasis on individual interests such as doctor-patient relationships, informed consent, and personal autonomy is minimally helpful in confronting the social and political challenges posed by new human biotechnologies…”

• The Premonition (Lewis) "The characters you will meet in these pages are as fascinating as they are unexpected. A thirteen-year-old girl’s science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control. A local public-health officer uses her worm’s-eye view to see what the CDC misses, and reveals great truths about American society..."

• WHAT WE OWE THE FUTURE (MacAskill) "argues for longtermism: that positively influencing the distant future is our time’s key moral priority. It’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert a pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed; counter the end of moral progress; and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital. If we make wise choices now, our grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world full of justice, hope and beauty"... 

• THE CODE BREAKER: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race (Isaacson) "we are entering a life-science revolution... Should we use our new evolution-hacking powers to make us less susceptible to viruses? ...Should we allow parents, if they can afford it, to enhance the height or muscles or IQ of their kids? After helping to discover CRISPR, Doudna became a leader in wrestling with these moral issues..."

• Each student will also choose and report on additional relevant texts pertaining to pandemics, public health, or some other issue the course raises, thus enabling us to extend our study of the field by “crowd-sourcing” many more of the crucial issues it raises.

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IMPORTANT DATES Spring 2025

• Jan 21 – Classes Begin

• Feb 4 -- Select midterm report presentation topic & date

• Feb 13 --  Mid-term report presentations begin

• Mar 6 – Exam 1

• Mar 10-15 – Spring Break – No Classes

• Mar 31 – Select final report presentation topic & date

• Apr 1 – Final report presentations begin

• Apr 29 – Our Last Day of Class. Exam 2

• May 2  -- Final report blog post (final draft) due. Post earlier for feedback

• May 8  – Last Day of Term

• May 10  – Commencement (Days and Times TBD), Official Fall Graduation Date

• May 11  – Deadline for Submission of Final Grades, 11:59 p.m.

* Deadlines. Due dates are firm. Extensions are possible in the event of illness or some other unavoidable or extraordinary circumstance, but must first be authorized by me. jpo

JAN

21. Introductions. Post your response to these questions, interpreted any way you like: Who are you? Why are you here? What do you think Philosophy has to do with Bioethics? What ethical/philosophical issues related to the pandemic occur to you? Do you have an easily-summarized personal philosophy? (Maybe something short like Charlie Brown's sister Sally's?--"No!")

23 What is Bioethics? (Basics 1); Premonition Intro/prologue/1

28 Moral Theories (Basics 2); Premonition Premonition 2

30 Perspectives (Basics 3); Premonition 3

FEB

4 Clinical Ethics (Basics 4); Premonition 4 Select midterm report presentation topic & date: indicate your 1st and 2d choices for date and topic in the comments space below midterm report presentations.

6 Research (Basics 5); Premonition 5

11 Justice (Basics 6); Premonition 6; Assign midterm report topics 

13 Beyond Bioethics Foreword, Introduction, 1; Premonition 7. Midterm report presentations begin.

18 Beyond 2-3; Premonition 8 Midterm report presentations begin.

20  Beyond 4-6; Premonition 9

25 Beyond 7-8; Premonition 10 

27 Beyond 9-12; Premonition 11/epilogue

MAR

4 Beyond 13-15; Codebreaker Intro & Part One-The Origins of Life

6 EXAM 1

SPRING BREAK

18 Beyond 16-17; Codebreaker Part Two-CRISPR

20 Beyond 18-20; Codebreaker Part Three-Gene Editing

25 Beyond 21-22; Codebreaker Parts Four and Five-CRISPR in Action, Public Scientist

27 Beyond 23-27; Codebreaker Part Six-CRISPR Babies

31  Beyond 28-31; Codebreaker Parts Seven, Eight-The Moral Questions, Dispatches from the Front. Select final report presentation topic & date

APR

1 Beyond 32-34; Codebreaker Part Nine-Coronavirus. Final report presentations begin.

3

8 Beyond 35-36; Future Part I-The Long View

10 Beyond 37-39; Future Part II-Trajectory Changes

15 Beyond 40-42; Future Part III-Safeguarding Civilisation

17 Beyond 43-50 Future Part IV-Assessing the End of the World

22 Beyond 51-54; Future Part V-Taking Action

24 Final report presentations conclude

29  Last class. Exam 2 (NOTE: Exam 2  is not a "final exam," it is the exam covering material since Exam 1.)

MAY

2 Final blogposts due (post early draft for constructive feedback)

EXAMS. Two objective-format exams based on daily questions, each worth up to 25 points.

REPORTS. Midterm presentation), final presentation & related blog post (1,000+ words minimum). Worth up to 25 points each. Indicate your topic/date preferences in comments below "Report Presentations" post.

PARTICIPATION. Participation includes attendance, your full and attentive presence in class, and posts, comments (etc.) to our Bioethics site prior to each class. No points formally allotted, but steady participation earns strong consideration for a higher final grade. Hypothetically, for instance: say you earned a total of 88 points (of a possible 100) on the exams and reports. If you did not participate consistently and well, your course grade would be B+. If you did, it would be A. In other words, strong participation earns you EXTRA CREDIT. (So please don't ask, at the end of the semester, how to get it. This is how: participate.)

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SCORECARDS. Because your professor is a baseball fan, we'll track participation with baseball scorecards adapted to the purpose. Come to class to get on 1st base. Post a pertinent comment or question for discussion prior to class to advance to 2d base. Same to move to 3d. To come home, post a pertinent research discovery, something we wouldn't have known from the day's assigned reading.

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"Solvitur ambulando"... the art of walking

A NOTE ON THE BLOG POST FORMAT: final report blog posts should include appropriately-bloggish content: not just words, but also images, links, videos where relevant, etc.

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Watch this space for updated info on the university's and our department's FREE tutoring service... and learn how to study, get help with understanding difficult course material,  receive better test grades, or simply improve your grade point average.  Tutoring is available in study skills and learning strategies that includes sessions on time management, notetaking, when and where to study, and memory principles.  Tutoring is also available in over 200 courses including biology, history, computer information systems, physics, math, psychology, chemistry, economics, recording industry, and many more.  The central location for tutoring is the Tutoring Spot, located in Walker Library, but is also conducted at various other campus sites.  For available tutoring opportunities, visit http://mtsu.edu/studentsuccess/tutoring.php#on .  For questions, call the Tutoring  Spot at 615-904-8014.

Dr. Cornelia Wills

Director of Student Success

Middle Tennessee State University

P. O. Box 500

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Telephone:  615-898-5025

http://mtsu.edu/studentsuccess/index.php

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Title IX

Students who believe they have been harassed, discriminated against or been the victim of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking should contact a Title IX/Deputy Coordinator at 615-898-2185 or 615-898- 2750 for assistance or review MTSU’s Title IX website for resources. http://www.mtsu.edu/titleix/

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Writing Center

The Margaret H. Ordoubadian University Writing Center serves all MTSU students, from freshmen to PhD candidates, on writing from any discipline, and in any genre. [website...] We have a brand new  digital class visit, a brief introduction to the UWC, which can be embedded in any D2L shell for your students.  

Tutoring sessions begin August 24th, and this semester, students will have two choices for online writing support: ​

• ​Live Chat: students to use their mic and camera and meet tutors in real time to work on a shared document; 

• Document Drop: students upload their text and assignment sheet, identify specific feedback needs, and receive tutor feedback through email. 

​We also support writers through course-specific or assignment-specific workshops. The UWC administrative team has worked closely with faculty in diverse programs and departments, such as Biology, Anthropology, and Professional Studies, to create workshops and writing support for students in those courses. Please email Erica Cirillo-McCarthy, Director of the UWC, at erica.cirillo-mccarthy@mtsu.edu if you are interested in talking about ways the UWC can support writers in your class.