This course is an introduction to the philosophy of medicine. The course will be divided into three units. Unit 1 will consider the foundational conceptual questions “What is medicine?” and “What are health and disease?” We will start by tracing the development of medicine from its ancient roots (including Hippocrates and Galen) to modern times. We will then think about how to characterize the goal and craft of medicine (doing so in such a way that we do not need to appeal to technical scientific concepts). In Unit 2 our central question will be: “What attitude should we take to medicine?” We will think about this both from the perspective of the practitioner and the patient, bearing in mind the history of curative frustrations and the quality of evidence backing up procedures and medications. Unit 3 will concern medical ethics. We will consider two major ethical dilemmas: assisted death and decisions involving a child that has yet to be born. We will conclude by thinking about what medical ethics could look like in the future.

Attendance and participation is mandatory. It will be graded throughout the course (roughly every 2 weeks). The only assignment is a 2-3 page final paper; a passing score in both categories is required to pass the course.