Contact: Maridith Geuder
Headlines about Jack Kevorkian keep assisted suicide at the forefront of current events, but medical issues such as suicide, euthanasia and cloning can be argued from philosophical positions centuries old.
Introducing students to the complexities of medical ethics is the focus of a Mississippi State University philosophy course taught this fall in cooperation with Mississippi University for Women. While many of the pro-and-con arguments date back to the ancient Greeks, the class is offered in a decidedly 20th century medium.
"We offer the course entirely online," said MSU's Lynn Holt. Both he and team-teacher Rita Hinton of MUW are associate professors of philosophy.
The exchange of ideas in cyberspace offers students access to the class at their convenience.
"In particular, we think this approach can be useful to health professionals who seek continuing education," Holt said. "Our students are enriched by the interaction with those actually dealing with these issues in their professional lives."
Students "attend" class by accessing lectures the two professors post on the Internet. They also participate in electronic chat sessions and small group work.
Both teachers agree that the goal is to deepen the understanding of ethical issues involved in the practice of medicine.
"By their very nature, philosophical questions are questions with either no answer or, more likely, many different answers," Hinton said. "Unfortunately, there are no established guidelines everyone follows in ethical matters."
While modern public debate often seems reduced to slogans and sound bites, the study of philosophers ranging from Aristotle of the 4th century B.C. to German Immanuel Kant in the 1700s gives students a way to reason their positions, Holt said.
"We look at the works of great ethicists throughout the ages and try to apply a philosophical framework," he added. "Students generally come into the class with an opinion. We don't try to change opinions, but we want students to see that their positions can be given reasons."
Holt and Hinton expressed hope that this new method of teaching students how to think through the issues will be a lesson that lasts. Success can be judged, in part, by the fact that most in the online classroom say they'd take it again in the same format.
"I had a chance to read many opinions and views from other students," commented one in a survey taken by the teachers. "The online course allowed me to think out my responses more thoroughly before communicating them with others.
"It helped me think on my own."