Biomedical Ethics Argumentative Essay

Write an argumentative essay on any topic in biomedical ethics. Options include abortion, physician-assisted suicide, reproductive cloning, CRISPR, transgenic animals, biological warfare, moral status of human embryos, recreation of Spanish Flu, medical tourism, nanotechnology, organ conscription, patenting genetic materials, surrogacy, male circumcision, complementary medicine, access to experimental drugs, U.S. response to non-endemic diseases.

Note: If you have already written an essay on one of these topics, you cannot write your term paper on the same topic.

Note: If you would like to write on a different topic, that’s fine. But you need to pass it by me first.

Papers should be 8-10 pages in length with a standard one inch margin and a standard 10- or 12-point font. Please number your pages. Please include a works cited page.

Your paper must include a discussion of at least 10 academic sources. If you are writing on a topic we have already covered such as reproductive cloning or physician-assisted suicide, you need 10 additional topics. An academic source is a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal or a book published by a reputable publisher and written by someone with either an M.D. or a Ph.D. Note that Wikipedia is not an academic source. See following video “What is an Academic Source?”

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=what+is+an+academic+source

You paper must include a discussion of additional philosophical arguments. Please note that by “additional philosophical arguments” I mean ones not already covered in the assigned readings. Note that you may reference articles already covered in this course. But material we have already covered does not count as an “additional” source.

Be mindful to include an objective exposition of both sides of the debate–both the pros and the cons. Please see “How to Write a Philosophy Essay.” A quality paper will then include an analysis advancing principled reasons for thinking one side is right and the other side is wrong. Please review the grading rubric in the syllabus.

The term paper should be argumentative in style–i.e., you should assert a position and argue for that position. Papers will be graded on clarity of expression, depth of research and quality of philosophical reasoning.

Please use MLA format. Be careful about citations. Do not plagiarize! Your essay will be run though Turnitin. Please see the following video.

Avoiding Plagiarism: What Do I Need to Cite?

See also “Citing a Source: MLA”.