RS30410 - ANIMAL BIOETHICS

Module Identifier

RS30410

Module Title

ANIMAL BIOETHICS

Academic Year

2007/2008

Co-ordinator

Dr Michael T Rose

Semester

Intended for use in future years

Next year offered

N/A

Next semester offered

N/A

Other staff

Dr Neil R McEwan

Course delivery

Lecture

2 x 1 hour lectures per week

Seminars / Tutorials

3 x 3 hour seminars during semester

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	ETHICAL MATRIX PROJECT	50%
Semester Exam	2 Hours WRITTEN EXAMINATION	50%
Supplementary Exam	2 Hours WRITTEN EXAMINATION	100%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Discuss the remit of bioethics, its definitions, and its historical perspective, specifically with regard to animals.

2. Discuss developments in ethical theory

3. Apply the ethical matrix to examples in animal science

4. Discuss the ethical status of different forms of animal farming, animal experimentation, animal biotechnologies and
animal domestication

Brief description

The module will consider the nature of bioethics and the history of attitudes and philosophies regarding wild and domesticated animals. It will also consider the ethical and legal position of animals as experimental models, as providers of meat and other animal products, and as providers of companionship.

Content

Defining bioethics and exploring the source of human ethics
Ethical theory: Utilitarianism, Deontology, Virtue theory and others
The theory and application of the ethical matrix as a framework for ethical analysis
The history of human attitudes to animals ¿ monism vs dualism
The ethics of animal production
The ethics of animal experimentation, including a consideration of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986.
The ethics of advances in biotechnology
The ethics of animal domestication
The application of the principles of animal bioethics into wider areas

Module Skills

Research skills	Ethical Matrix Project
Communication	Exam, Ethical Matrix Project
Improving own Learning and Performance	Exam, Ethical Matrix Project
Information Technology	Ethical Matrix Project

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Gensler, H J (1998) Ethics. A contemporary introduction Routledge
Holland, A and Johnson, A (1998) Animal biotechnology and ethics Chapman and Hall
LaFollette, H and Shanks, N (1996) Brute Science: Dilemmas of animal experimentation Routledge
Marie, M et al (2005) Animal bioethics: principles and teaching methods Wageningen Academic Publishers
Mepham, T B (2005) Bioethics: an introduction for the biosciences Oxford University Press

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6