95670 - Applied Ethics: Bioethics and Ethics of the Professions (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course offers an introduction to applied ethics covering the moral approaches to the discipline, its guiding principles, and the normative criteria that may be used in working out specific problems in professional ethics and bioethics.

Course contents

Responsibility between law, ethics and technique

In the 1940s, Hans Kelsen devoted a series of researches and lectures to the relationship between natural and social sciences, developing the distinction between the principle of causality and the principle of imputation. Following his investigation, then reworked in the 1960 edition of the Pure Theory of Law, the first part of the course will focus on the peculiar characteristics of social norms and normative systems (such as ethics and law), observing in particular the «metamorphosis» of the principle of causality and its progressive detachment from the principle of remuneration, as well as the relationship between imputation, freedom, sanction and responsibility.

In the second part of the course, the profound impact of the contemporary technique on human actions and responsibility will be examined, starting from some writings by Hans Jonas and Günther Anders. Along these lines, the reflection will focus on the «technological change» making «nature the object of human responsibility», as well as on the «outdatedness» of man, whose margin of freedom seems today more and more reduced.

Finally, in the third part of the course, the emerged principles and normative criteria will be applied to the examination of some concrete issues typical of our «digital age», which are increasingly relevant from the perspective of professional ethics and bioethics, such as algorithmic discrimination and the dilemmas relative to the regulation of artificial intelligence.

Readings/Bibliography

Required readings:

1. H. Kelsen, La dottrina pura del diritto (1960), a cura di M. Losano, Einaudi, Torino, 2021: pp. 1-172.

2. H. Jonas, Frontiere della vita, frontiere della tecnica, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2011: pp. 75-150 OPPURE G. Anders, Il mondo dopo l’uomo. Tecnica e violenza, a cura di L. Pizzighella, Mimesis, Milano-Udine, 2008: pp. 19-98.

3. Th. Casadei, S. Pietropaoli (a cura di), Diritto e tecnologie informatiche. Questioni di informatica giuridica, prospettive istituzionali e sfide sociali, Wolters Kluwer, Milano, 2021: Parte I (pp. 3-68) OPPURE Parte IV (pp. 219-286).

 

Further optional readings:

- H. Kelsen, Che cos’è la dottrina pura del diritto?, a cura di T. Gazzolo, La nave di Teseo, Milano, 2022.

- H. Jonas, Tecnica, medicina ed etica. Prassi del principio responsabilità, Einaudi, Torino, 1997.

- G. Anders, L’uomo è antiquato. Vol. I: Considerazioni sull’anima nell’epoca della seconda rivoluzione industriale, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 2021.

- N. Lettieri, Antigone e gli algoritmi. Appunti per un approccio giusfilosofico, Mucchi, Modena, 2021.

- U. Pagallo, Il dovere alla salute. Sul rischio di sottoutilizzo dell’intelligenza artificiale in ambito sanitario, Mimesis, Milano-Udine, 2022.

Teaching methods

The course will be developed through 15 lessons, which will take place in person. It will not be possible to take part remotely but all the lessons will be recorded. Only (attending and non-attending) students enrolled in the course will be able to view the recordings of the lessons, which can be intended as learning support material.

It is necessary to register for the course by completing the procedure on Virtuale Unibo.

Lessons will be held from 19 September 2022, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 3.00 to 5.00 pm (Aula B, Centotrecento).

The dates for the exam sessions will be made available on Alma Esami.

Assessment methods

Both for attending and non-attending students, knowledge will be tested through an oral examination.

"Attending" are those students who regularly participate in face-to-face lessons.

"Non-attending" are those students who do not regularly participate in face-to-face lessons.

Attendance signatures will not be collected during the lessons. Displaying the recordings of the lessons is not relevant for the purpose of being considered as an attending student.

The exam program is the same for attending and non-attending students, but attending students will have the right to be questioned only on those topics which have been actually covered in class.

The assessment will take into account the following verification criteria:

1. knowledge and ability to understand specific issues;

2. ability to apply knowledge, through the examination of specific topics;

3. autonomy of judgment, or the ability to re-elaborate information independently and personally;

4. communication skills, starting from the ability to communicate ideas and problems with a proper language and a good articulation of thought;

5. learning skills, i.e. correct acquisition of tools and critical judgment skills on complex concerns.

Teaching tools

For the benefit of (attending and non-attending) students enrolled in the course, both the slides and the recordings of the lessons will be uploaded to the platform Virtuale Unibo. Students with special learning needs or proven specific needs are asked to contact the teacher by email or at the end of the lessons.

Office hours

See the website of Serena Vantin