Physician Assisted Suicide
Physician Assisted Suicide
Final paper guidelines
Students should choose their own topic for the final essay from any of the topics discussed during the semester. relevant to the ethics of health care. If you are unsure whether your topic is appropriate, please check with the instructor.The essay is not a narrative, empirical or historical research paper, but rather a philosophical one, or if you like, an analytical essay informed by the required readings (and discussion) and any other relevant supplementary readings the student, in consultation with the instructor consider appropriate. What does writing a philosophical essay mean? It means you have to present an argument and defend it, supporting you claim with evidence and other referenced work. It should also include an objection to your argument and your response.
An example may be helpful here. If you decide to write about assisted suicide your main thesis could look something like this:
“Legalizing assisted physical suicide in all states would uphold the principles of beneficence and non-maleficience.”
To support this thesis you would necessarily need to touch on the ethical principles we have looked at in the course, discuss their significance, the conflicts that may arise, and how these conflicts should be addressed. How should decisions be made? On what sources of knowledge should these decisions be based on? You can use an example to support your argument.
You should refer to at least two authors in your analysis. If using direct quotes please include page numbers, as well as complete citation details.
Word length: 2000 – 2500 words.
An outline for you paper would look something like this:
Introduction
What is the topic of your paper, what position do you want to defend? In this section you should set the context, give some background information. What is the outlay of your paper? What do you intend to do?
Body of the paper
This forms the bulk of your paper and would consist of a series of paragraphs. In this section you would include any background information pertinent to your argument; define any terms which warrant it;provide good reasoning for the position you have taken. Provide an example or quotations from other sources to support your argument. Here too, you would provide an objection to your argument and a response.
Conclusion
In this section you would sum up the main points from your argument.
Possible topics for final papers
Physician assisted suicide
Assessing competency of patients
The black market of organ transplants
Justice as an issue of health care
The ethics of medical technology
Genetic enhancement
Gender and health
Informed consent
Mental health (PTSD, prisons, as a social problem)
Forced sterilization as a violation of human rights
Respecting autonomy
Social determinants of health and ethical principles
Mental health and health disparities
Institutional Racism
Climate change and health
COVID-19 and the U.S.
COVID-19 and health disparities
