Bioethics: Methods and Principles

The learning objective of the course is to provide an introduction to bioethics, with particular reference to the main issues related to the three disciplinary areas of clinical ethics, research ethics and public ethics. The course aims to offer students the resources to develop knowledge and skills useful to find criteria to justify or critically evaluate the legitimacy of political and public decisions, institutions and practices concerning the most relevant moral issues raised in the bioethical field. The course also aims to identify the ethical issues raised by biomedicine, discussing them in connection with the public debate and enhancing the comparison between different voices.

The course aims at the following learning objectives:
- to understand the main issues and challenges in bioethics;
- to develop competence on the main theoretical perspectives and methodological criteria in bioethics;
- to improve knowledge and ability to develop argumentation skills on bioethical issues;
- to develop the ability to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to the analysis and discussion of disputes at the heart of public debate (in relation, for example, to end-of-life issues).