Entry requirements

30 credits in Practical Philosophy

Learning outcomes

After completing this course the students are expected to:

• Have developed a grasp of the central concepts used in the study of the ethics of health care rationing
• Have reflected on the connection between these concepts and the broader field of normative ethics
• Be familiar with central debates in recent literature about the measurement of health, the ranking of health care outcomes, and the normative theories used to determine the distribution of scarce healthcare resources
• Have developed relevant argumentative skills for engaging in philosophical and public discourse about rationing health care

Content

Healthcare is a scarce resource. Its scarcity is fixed by, amongst other factors: the number of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff available; the number of hospital beds and clinics; and of course by the amount of money put into the medical system. It is tempting to think that one should just spend 'as much money as it takes' on healthcare. But money spent on healthcare is not always money spent efficiently on health. Road and transportation safety, sanitation, education, and law enforcement are just a few of the other areas a society must spend on in order to promote public health. Even insofar as we prioritise health in the way we spend money in a society, we still will not want to put all of our money into a health care system.

With finite money to spend, not every patient can receive all of the health care that he or she needs or deserve. In this basic sense, health care is always rationed. This course considers the central ethical questions that feed into determining how healthcare ought to be rationed. The work of philosophers on the ethics of healthcare rationing plays an important direct and indirect role in determining how healthcare is distributed. This course therefore provides not only an introduction to the subject, but some insight into one of the most socially important areas of philosophical research.

Instruction

Lectures, discussion and paper-writing. The discussions will be interactive and will involve working in small groups and making brief presentations. Language of instruction is English.

Assessment

This course will be assessed by a written examination.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.