Dec 26, 2024  
2020-2021 Saint Joseph’s College Online Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Saint Joseph’s College Online Catalog [Archived Catalog]

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TH 512 - Catholic Bioethics


Founded on authentic Catholic moral reflection and an adequate anthropology, this course will examine normative ethics as applied to bioethics and the medical field. In the context of Catholic identity, the ideas of personhood, conscience, and various ethical systems will be applied to contemporary issues such as fertility, end of life care, mental health, and health care practices. With an emphasis on pastoral application, emergent issues such as biotechnical discoveries and pressing ideologies will be addressed from the perspective of a Catholic sacramental worldview.

Course Learning Objectives
  • Identify and explain the relation of Catholic identity in the context of bioethics, as it relates to the moral life and the idea of personhood
  • Understand and recognize diverse ethical systems and bioethical principles as applied to case studies, with particular attention to approaches that do not harmonize with human dignity or Divine Revelation
  • Critically analyze and apply Catholic bioethical directives to contemporary issues such as fertility and maternal care, procured abortion, reproductive technologies, genetic testing, transhumanism, suffering, end of life care, and death
  • Understand and apply certain principles of the health care practice to specific situations, including the concepts of consent, capacity and competency, along with privacy and confidentiality
  • Address critically and articulate a rational pastoral response within the exponentially growing field of bioethics to various threats to the human person as created imago Dei. as they are confronted in a pluralistic society of diverse goals and competing ethical systems


Credits: 3

Offered: September and March



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