Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons^™

Knowledge, Wisdom, And Service: The Meaning And Teaching Of Professionalism In Medicine, Matthew K. Wynia

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University. Presented September 29, 2011.

Animal Models For Human Disease – Reflections From An Animal Researcher’S Perspective, Imke Tammen

Between the Species

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCL) are a group of lethal inherited neurodegenerative disorders in humans and many animal species. Critical reflections on a range of ethical issues concerning NCL have been instigated by my research on sheep and cattle affected with NCL, the claim that these sheep and cattle are useful models for the disease in humans, and engagement with families and support groups. My reflections on moral status of animals and validity of animal models are outlined in this paper.

Why There Is No Duty To Die, Gary W. Levvis, Margaret M. Levvis

Torrington Articles

John Hardwig argues that patients have a duty to end their lives when their continued existence imposes serious hardship on their caregivers. Hardwig has deflected many critics’ objections concerning the practical implications of his position. Our goal is to demonstrate the self-contradictory nature of the duty-to-die thesis. Once we eliminate the vagueness (over the essential conditions subtending a presumed duty to die) and the ambiguity (implicit in Hardwig’s use of the term “duty”), we find that the essential conditions for such a duty cannot be simultaneously satisfied. The problem is that the very process by which the duty to die …

Obstetricians And Violence Against Women, Sonya Charles

Philosophy and Religious Studies Department Faculty Publications

I argue that the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), as an organization and through its individual members, can and should be a far greater ally in the prevention of violence against women. Specifically, I argue that we need to pay attention to obstetrical practices that inadvertently contribute to the problem of violence against women. While intimate partner violence is a complex phenomenon, I focus on the coercive control of women and adherence to oppressive gender norms. Using physician response to alcohol use during pregnancy and court-ordered medical treatment as examples, I show how some obstetrical practices mirror the …

Guantánamo Bodies: Law, Media, And Biopower, Cary H. Federman, Dave Holmes

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The idea of the Guantánamo detainee as a Muselmann, the lowest order of concentration camp inmates, contains within it important implications for the new understanding of sovereignty in the era of Guantánamo, in an age of exception. The purpose of this article is to explain the status of those who are detained at Guantánamo Bay. Stated broadly, in assessing that status, we will emphasize the connection between the altered meaning of sovereignty that has accompanied the placing of prisoners in an American penal colony in Cuba and the biopolitical status of the prisoners who reside there. More particularly, we …

Communication And The Pragmatic Condition, Gregory J. Shepherd

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented March 9, 2011

The Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society At Twenty-Five, Michael S. Pritchard

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15, 2010.

Reflections On The Role Of The Ethics Center At Wmu, Shirley Bach

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15, 2010

Reflections On The 25Th Anniversary Of The Wmu Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society, Ronald Kramer

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15, 2010.

Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society: Celebrating 25 Years, Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University.

Reflections On The Role Of The Ethics Center At Wmu, James A. Jaksa

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15,2010.

Ethics Of Paid Gamete Donation, Kyle Dayton, Maeleen Witte

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

This presentation shows the standing ethical questions in the aspect of gamete donation, analyzes them, and contrasts them. This article primarily focuses on whether it is ethical to pay a donor for their gametes (sperm or egg). Within this presentation, we question whether donation should be purely altruistic and not motivated by incentives.

Should Primates Have Legal Rights?, Hannah Barten, Zhimin Chen

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

A primate having legal rights is a controversial topic these days. Many other countries around the world support the idea of great apes having legal rights, because we for one are one of the five great primates. Others do not support this trending topic as much as others. These types of people believe that great apes such as chimpanzees are superb testing animals for medical purposes, because of the fact that they are closely related to mankind. Organizations such as Great Ape Protection, work towards protecting the rights of these great apes since they cannot speak for themselves. In many …

Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Michael Phan, Jeniene Hassan

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to regenerate malfunctioning tissues and replace harmful cancer cells. Although it holds the potential to alleviate malicious disabilities and diseases, it raises ethical concerns due to the destruction of a fertilized human embryo. In certain religions (Catholics and Christians), embryonic stem cell research is detested due to the destruction of a human at its early stages of life (embryo). On the other hand, scientists believe that embryonic stem cells can “someday…used to treat human diseases.” (Hansen 879) This analysis on embryonic stem cell research will consider both the supporting and opposing side of …

Ethics Behind Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Samantha Haydock, Regine Dejesus

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Advancement in embryonic stem cell research can cure the world of sicknesses in ways that were only imagined. Out of all the stem cells, embryonic stem cells have the capabilities to develop into any cell and tissue type. Embryonic stem cell research is controversial due to how these cells are harvested. In harvesting these cells, the embryos are destroyed; further halting any development of a human being. We began our research by asking why this topic is an ethical issue. Using various media resources, we took key points from both sides and also looked into the latest advancements that may …

On The Scope Of A Professional’S Right Of Conscience, David Lefkowitz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Under what conditions, if any, do medical professionals enjoy a right of conscience? That is, when must a just state accommodate a physician’s, pharmacist’s, or other medical professional’s refusal to provide legally and professionally sanctioned services to which she morally objects; for example, by enacting laws that enable her to do so without fear of losing her job or her professional privileges? Recent assertions by several pharmacists of a right to conscientiously refuse to fill prescriptions for the so-called morning-after pill, and by a California fertility doctor of a right to conscientiously refuse to provide fertility treatment to a lesbian, …

Diversity, Democracy And Dialogue In A Human Rights Framework, Carol C. Gould

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University, November 3, 2009

Conceptual Problems In Research Ethics, Charles Weijer

Research Day (Arts & Humanities, FIMS, and Education)

This poster addresses these issues:
• What good is medical research?
• What is owed to the study subject?
• When is research risk acceptable?
• How should we conduct research in developing countries?
• How should we conduct research involving communities?

On The Appropriateness Of A Christian Bioethics, Thomas A. Cavanaugh

Philosophy

No abstract provided.

What About The Children? Benjamin And Arendt: On Education, Work, And The Political, Jules Simon

Selected Works Temporary Series

This article is a rough draft of an article that I contributed to an edited volume of articles dealing with progressive education theory. I reflect on articles that Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin wrote that deal with educational reform and innovation, both political in nature.

Harm Or Mere Inconvenience? Denying Women Emergency Contraception, Carolyn Mcleod

Philosophy Publications

This paper addresses the likely impact on women of being denied emergency contraception (EC) by pharmacists who conscientiously refuse to provide it. A common view—defended by Elizabeth Fenton and Loren Lomasky, among others—is that these refusals inconvenience rather than harm women so long as the women can easily get EC somewhere else nearby. I argue from a feminist perspective that the refusals harm women even when they can easily get EC somewhere else nearby.

What About The Children? Benjamin And Arendt: On Education, Work, And The Political, Jules Simon

Departmental Papers (Philosophy)

This article is a rough draft of an article that I contributed to an edited volume of articles dealing with progressive education theory. I reflect on articles that Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin wrote that deal with educational reform and innovation, both political in nature.

Dr. Cezanne And The Art Of Re(Peat)Search: Competing Interests And Obligations In Clinical Research, Robyn L. Bluhm, Jocelyn Downie, Jeff Nisker

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Clinician researchers have a number of roles, each of which carries specific obligations. There are times when these obligations may be in competition (up to and including conflict) with each other. Using a narrative case study that describes a group of colleagues discussing their clinical department's participation in an industry-sponsored research protocol, we illustrate a number of the obligations faced by clinician researchers, and discuss how competing interests and obligations can lead to ethical problems. The case study is followed by a discussion of the effect of university-industry relations on competing interests and obligations in both clinical research and the …

A Free And Undemocratic Press?, Stephen J. A. Ward

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University.

When Can Physicians Say “No” To Families And Patients?, Charles Weijer

Philosophy Presentations

No abstract provided.

Ethical Challenges In Icu Research, Charles Weijer

Philosophy Presentations

No abstract provided.

Deep Ecology And End-Of-Life Care, Paul Carrick

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Physicians and nurses caring for terminally ill patients are expected to center their moral concerns almost exclusively on the needs and welfare of the dying patient and the patients family. But what about the relationship of traditional medical ethics to the emerging new theories of environmental ethics, like deep ecology? As we glide into the twenty-first century, can anyone seriously doubt that the mounting global concerns of environmental ethics will eventually influence the ethics of medicine too?

For example, suppose physicians were to integrate the core values of an ecocentric environmental ethic like deep ecology into contemporary North American norms …

Motivation In Spinoza And Rosenzweig Or Transgressing The Boundaries Of A Rationally Constructed Self, Jules Simon

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Making Ethical Sense Of Useless Suffering With Levinas, Jules Simon

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

The Ethical Phenomenon Of Gm-Corn: Anger, Anxiety, And Arrogance In Crossing American Borders, Jules Simon

Selected Works Temporary Series

In terms of phenomenology, I often wonder about the relevance of what I do as a philosopher for the life of those with whom I come into contact. This ‘coming into contact’ happens for me on several levels: as one human among many, as a husband and father and son and brother, as a teacher, as a neighbor, and as country or city dweller. I remember with fondness those times in the late sultry summer months when, as a youth, I would drive with my father to this or that local farm-stand on some remote back road in the hills …