Science asks "Can we?"
Law asks "May we?"
Morality asks "Should
we?" |
What is Bioethics?
Bioethics is both a field of intellectual inquiry and a professional
practice that examines moral questions at the intersection of biology,
medicine, law, public health, policy, and ethics - all broadly construed.
More. . .
Bioethics asks the really
hard questions:
- Is it ethical to clone a human being?
- Shall we legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted
suicide?
- Should Terri Schiavo's feeding tube have
been removed?
- Are genetic screening and abortion of "selected"
fetuses compatible with respect for the disabled in our community?
- How can we use human subjects in biomedical
research without dehumanizing them?
- Is there a right to health care - or appropriate
limits to demands for treatment?
- How important are human rights in a time
of plague?
- What do we owe the starving poor in distant
lands?
Such questions press upon us both as expert professionals
and as ordinary citizens who read the paper, vote, and go to
town meetings. They are also the stuff of bioethical inquiry.
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Welcome
This is the Undergraduate Bioethics Program at the
University of Virginia.
If you are a prospective student, you can find information about
the centerpiece of this program, the Minor in Bioethics, under Academic
Programs, or hear about the experiences of one of our
alumni. If you are
a current student, you can find a quick list of Bioethics courses
on the Course Offerings
page. |
News and Events
Frances McCorkle,
a PPL major and history minor, was awarded First
Prize for her essay "Liberal Answers to Callahan's Communitarianism"
in the 2007 national undergraduate bioethics essay competition,
sponsored by the Penn Bioethics Journal. All undergraduates
with articles published in this Journal over the past year were
considered for the prize. This is the second time in the past
four years that a UVA student has written a bioethics paper judged
to be the best in the nation. Congratulations, Frances!
Craig Iffland,
a PPL major and bioethics minor, presented a paper on "Embryo Ethics"
to the 10th annual National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference,
held in March 2007 at Michigan State University. He also published
a paper entitled "Feminist Perspectives--Pornography: Women as
Commodities?" in the Penn Bioethics Journal (vol. 3, no. 1,
2007). Hats off, Craig! |
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Bioethics Awards
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UVa Bioethics Links
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