General information

• Study points: 4.00
• Language: English
• Category: Lectures
• Duration: 26.0 hours 
• Periodicity: Taught next academic year in the first semester
• POC: Facultaire onderwijscel Godgeleerdheid

Taught by

Broeckaert Bert

Aims

• students understand the similarities and differences (values, norms, methodology,…) between the world religions (we concentrate on Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam) in their ethical attitudes towards end of life decisions (euthanasia, withholding or withdrawing lifesustaining treatment, pain control, organ donation, palliative care)
  
• student can demonstrate the ethical variety within each religious tradition
  
• students are familiar with a comparative religious ethics approach
  
• students understand the differences and similarities between the different end of life decisions 

Content

This course, taking a comparative religous ethics point of view, discusses the way world religions approach end of life ethics. Though a few smaller traditions may be discussed, the course concentrates on the ethical thinking in Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. After a general introduction in which the differents terms and concepts (euthanasia, palliative care,...) are explained, in each religion the following topics are addressed: euthanasia (voluntary, non-voluntary, involuntary), pain control, withholding and withdrawing life sustaining treatment at patient’s request, futile treatment, palliative care, organ transplantation.

Course Material

• Powerpointpresentations (to be supplemted with personal notes taken by the students)
  
• Toledo
  
• Reader

Evaluation description

Examination type:
    oral with written preparation
Evaluation type:
    Closed book

Explanation

Classical oral examination (15 minutes). Students have 40 minutes of written preparation. Students receive three broad and general questions about three different parts of the course. Students are asked to give a well-structured, intelligent, coherent & to the point answer to each question in approximately 4 minutes. The mark given is based on the oral examination only; the written preparation, though collected by the professor (in order to make eventual later feedback easier), serves only a preparatory goal. When during the oral examination extra questions are asked, they are always related to the original question. The fact that several or no additional questions were asked doesn't give any indication of the quality of the examination. When a student is unable to answer one or more of the three initial broad questions, under no circumstances alternate quesions will be given.