Course 2, 2010 Winter. Introduction

We will be studying selected works of literature with a view to examining what they can teach us about medicine, bioethics, and applied philosophy, including such issues as the doctor-patient relationship, death and dying, conflicts of interest in medical care, clarification of our values, etc.

Lessons in the ethics of medicine occur all over, including daily papers and journals, news shows on TV, Television dramas, film, and literature.

We will be focusing on literature with a view to learning something about both bioethics and literature, and what they can teach us about ourselves and our values.

I invite readers to ask questions, and to suggest books, films, or TV programs that demonstrate ethical issues.

I have selected 4 books.

One Memoir; An Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison; Bipolar Affective Disorder

One short story collection, Chekhov's Doctors; A Colleciton of Chekhov's Medical Tales, Ed by Jack Coulehan.

One Non-fiction; The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman,

One Fiction; Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese.

Each book will reiterate a number of ethical dilemmas and issues.