This unit of study introduces some philosophical questions and debates concerning health, medicine and the biomedical sciences. We will begin by exploring some basic concepts and distinctions such as health, disease, mental illness and disability. We will then explore topics that lie at the heart of a scientific approach to health and medicine, such as causation, experimentation, evidence and clinical reasoning. Towards the end of the course, students will be invited to reflect critically on the preceding sections by exploring the rationality claims of non-orthodox approaches to health and medicine, by inquiring closely into the meaning of medical terms, and by taking a broad view of notions like health, disease or risk. This unit will appeal to students who want to take a deep dive into ideas and commitments that make the health professions and the health sciences distinctive. It will encourage you to question deeply-held assumptions; it will help you feel confident to draw on philosophical scholarship, and it will equip you to evaluate reasons, evidence and arguments with the kind of rigor that philosophy demands.
Unit details and rules
Academic unit | |
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Credit points | 6 |
Prerequisites
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None |
Corequisites
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None |
Prohibitions
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None |
Assumed knowledge
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None |
Available to study abroad and exchange students | Yes |
Teaching staff
Coordinator | Lisa Dive, lisa.dive@sydney.edu.au |
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Lecturer(s) | Christopher Jordens, chris.jordens@sydney.edu.au |