Course description 
Political theorists think about rights, justice, and the good life. Governments everywhere struggle with ethical problems in health. Public policy is all the better for being informed by political theory, and political theory is all the better for thinking about what ought to happen in the real world. Taking health as it focus, this paper will help you unify theory and practice. Among other topics, we consider: what health is and why it is valuable; the role of government and markets in providing health care; how to allocate resources in a government health system; justice, inequalities, and health; and coercion to control the spread of disease, whether caused by germs (like pandemic influenza) or lifestyle (e.g. smoking or eating too much and moving too little.) This is an applied political theory paper, and it would suit politics students of political theory and public policy, and non-politics students interested in health policy, population health, and applied ethics.
Recommended readings
Items are cited according to the Chicago
Manual of Style. 15th ed. "Bibliography" style.
Organ transplantation and the acquisition of organs from the dead
Organ transplantation and the acquisition of organs from the living
The value and limits of freedom
Coercion and contagious disease
A toolkit for thoughtful scepticism
Non-communicable diseases and government regulation
The value of health, the value of health care
Theories of justice in the distribution of resources affecting health
Principles of allocation
Difficult cases for principles of allocation
Worst case scenarios
Note: Course readings may only be used for the University's educational purposes. You may print a copy for your own use, but you may not make a further copy for any other purpose. You may not copy or distribute any part of the reading to any other person. Failure to comply with these terms may expose you to legal action for copyright infringement and/or disciplinary action by the
University.
Organ transplantation and the acquisition of organs from the dead
Gill, Michael B. "Presumed Consent, Autonomy, and Organ Donation." Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 29, no. 1 (2004): 37-59.
Library copies | Journal article
Hartogh, Govert den. Farewell to Non-Commitment. Centre for Ethics and Health. Moni toring Report Ethics and Health 2008
Internet
Veatch, Robert. "Gift or Salvage: The Two Models of Organ Procurement." Transplantation Ethics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2000. Chap. 9.
Library copies
Wilkinson, T.M. "Individual and Family Decisions about Organ Donation." Journal of
Applied Philosophy 24, no. 1 (2007): 26-40.
Library copies | 
Organ transplantation and the acquisition of organs from the living
Rivera-Lopez, E. "Organ Sales and Moral Distress." Journal of
Applied Philosophy 23, no. 1 (2006): 41-52.
Library copies |
Rothman, S.M., and D. Rothman. "The Hidden Cost of Organ Sale." American Journal of Transplantation 6, no. 7 (2006): 1524-1528.
Library copies | Journal article
Veatch, Robert. " Donor/Cadaver Exchanges." Chap. 12 in Transplantation Ethics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2000.
Library copies
Wilkinson, Stephen. "Organs for Sale." Chap. 7 in Bodies for Sale: Ethics and Exploitation in the Human Body Trade. New York: Routledge, 2003.
Library copies | E-book
Wilkinson, T. M. "Living Donor Organ Transplantation." In Principles of Health Care Ethics. 2nd ed., edited by R. Ashcroft, A. Dawson, H. Draper, and J. McMillan. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
Library copies | E-book
The value and limits of freedom
Camerer, Colin. "Regulation for Conservatives." University of Pennsylvania Law Review 151, no. 3 (2003): 1211-1254.
Library copies | Journal article
Dworkin, Gerald. "Is More Choice Better Than Less?" In The Theory and Practice of Autonomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Library copies
Feinberg, Joel. The Moral Limits of the Criminal Law. Volume four. Harmless Wrongdoing. New York : Oxford University Press, 1984-1988. chs 17 and 19.
Library copies | E-book
Thaler, Richard, and Cass Sunstein. "Biases and Blunders. " Chap. 1 in Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2008.
Library copies
---. "When Do We Need a Nudge?" Chap. 4 in Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2008.
Library copies
Coercion and contagious disease
Dawson, Angus. "Vaccination and the Prevention Problem." Bioethics 18, no. 6 (2004): 515-530.
Library copies | Journal article
Epstein, Richard A. "Let the Shoemaker Stick to His Last: A Defense of the 'Old' Public Health." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 46, no. 3 (2003): 138-41, 143-8.
Library copies | Journal article
Gostin, Lawrence O. Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. Chap.8
Library copies
"Jacobson v. Massachusetts: Supreme Court of the United states Decided February 20, 1905." In Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader, edited by Lawrence O. Gostin, p. 206. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
Library copies | E-book
Wilkinson, T. M. "Contagious Disease and Self-Defence." Res Publica 13, no. 4 (2007): 339-359.
A toolkit for thoughtful scepticism
Best, Joel. Damned Lies and Statistics. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
Library copies
---. More Damned Lies and Statistics: How Numbers Confuse Public Issues. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2004.
Library copy | E-book
Goldacre, Ben. Bad Science. London: Fourth Estate, 2008.
Library copy | Blog
Greenhalgh, Trisha. How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence-Based Medicine. 3rd ed. Malden, Mass.: BMJ Books, 2006.
Library copies | E-book (2nd ed.)
Non-communicable diseases and government regulation
Daniels, Norman. Just Health Care. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Chap.7 (pp.162-71 optional)
Library copies
Goodin, Robert.
Either
Goodin, Robert. "`Smoking: Is Acceptance of the Risks Fully Voluntary?" In Principles of Health Care Ethics, edited by Richard Ashcroft, chap. 88. 2nd ed.
Library copies | E-book
Or
Goodin, Robert. "The Ethics of Smoking." Ethics 99, no. 3 (1989): 574-624.
Library copies | Journal article
Jochelson, Karen. "Nanny or Steward? The Role of Government in Public Health." Public Health 120, no. 12 (2006): 1149-1155.
Library copies |
Rose, Geoffrey. "Sick Individuals and Sick Populations."' In Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader, edited by Lawrence O. Gostin, 58- Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
Library copies | E-book
Wilkinson, Stephen. "Smokers’ Rights to Health Care: Why the 'Restoration Argument' is a Moralising Wolf in a Liberal Sheep's Clothing ." Journal of
Applied Philosophy 16, no. 3 (1999): 255-269.
Library copies |
The value of health, the value of health care
Barr, Nicholas. "Health and Health Care." Chap. 12 in The Economics of the Welfare State. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. pp. 253-64.
Library copies
Barry, Brian. "Health." Chap. 6 in Why Social Justice Matters. Cambridge: Polity, 2005.
Library copy
Daniels, Norman. "What is the Special Moral Importance of Health?" Chap. 2 in Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Library copies
Harford, Tim. "The Inside Story." Chap. 5 in The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich are Rich, the Poor are Poor--and Why you can Never Buy a Decent Used Car. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Library copies | E-book
Walzer, Michael. Spheres of Justice: A Defence of Pluralism and Equality. Oxford: Robertson, 1983. chap. 3, especially pp. 64-9, 86-91.
Library copies
Theories of justice in the distribution of resources affecting health
Buchanan, Allen. "The Right to a Decent Minimum of Health Care." Philosophy and Public Affairs 13, no. 1 (1984): 55-78.
Library copies | Journal article
Daniels, Norman."When are Health Inequalities Unjust? The Social Determinants of Health." Chap. 3 in Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Library copies | E-book
Daniels, Norman. "How Can We Meet Health Needs Fairly When We Can't Meet Them All?" Chap. 4 in Just Health: Meeting Health Needs Fairly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Library copies | E-book
Dworkin, Ronald.
Either
Dworkin, Ronald. "Justice and the High Cost of Health Care." Chap. 8 in Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000.
Library copies
Or
Dworkin, Ronald. "Justice in the Distribution of Health Care." McGill Law Journal 38, no. 4 (1993): 883-898.
Library copies
Also in M. Clayton, Matthew, and Andrew Williams, eds. The Ideal of Equality. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.
Library copy
Gibbard, Allan. "Health Care and the Prospective Pareto Principle." Ethics 94, no. 2 (1984): 261-282.
Library copies | Journal article
Powers, M.., and R. Faden. "Inequalities in Health, Inequalities in Health Care: Four Generations of Discussion about Justice and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis." Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 10, no. 2 (2000): 109-127.
Library copies |
Wilkinson, T. M. "Norman Daniels: Just Health." Public Health Ethics 1, no. 3 (2008): 268-272.
Principles of allocation
Broome, John. "QALYS." Chap. 13 in Ethics out of Economics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Library copies | E-book
Harris, John. "Micro Allocation: Deciding Between Patients." In A Companion to Bioethics, edited by Peter Singer, 293-305. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
Library copies | E-book
Menzel, Paul, and others. "Toward a Broader View of Values in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health Care." Hastings Center Report 29, no. 3 (1999)
Library copies | Journal article
Sunstein, Cass. "Money." Chap. 5 in Worst-Case Scenarios. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Library copy | E-book
Wikler, D., and others. "Quantitative Methods for Priority-Setting in Health." In Principles of Health Care Ethics, edited by Richard Ashcroft, chap. 77. 2nd ed.
Library copies | E-book
Difficult cases for principles of allocation
Glover, Jonathan. Causing Death and Saving Lives. London: Penguin Books, 1990.
Library copies
Kamm, Frances. Morality, Mortality. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993-1996.
Library copies | E-book
Parfit, Derek. "Innumerate Ethics." Philosophy and Public Affairs 7, no. 4 (1978): 285-301.
Library copies | Journal article
Taurek, John. "Should the Numbers Count?" Philosophy and Public Affairs 6, no. 4 (1977): 293-316.
Library copies | Journal article
Worst case scenarios
Broome, John. "Structured and Unstructured Valuation." Chap. 12 in Ethics Out of Economics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Library copy | E-book
Sen, Amartya. "The Discipline of Cost-Benefit Analysis." Chap. 19 in Rationality and Freedom. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 2002.
Library copy
Also in Journal of Legal Studies 29, no. 2 (2000): 931-952.
Library copies | Journal article
Sunstein, Cass. Worst-Case Scenarios. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007.
Library copy | E-book
Wilkinson, T. M. "Reason, Paternalism, and Disaster." Res Publica 15, no. 2 (2009): 203-211.
New Zealand Ministry of Health. Part A: The Action Plan. New Zealand Influenza Pandemic Action Plan 2006.
Internet
Journals
You may want to browse recent issues of these journals to see what
is currently being debated in the discipline.
Ethics
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law
Philosophy and Public Affairs
Databases
Oxford Medical Handbooks online
Oxford Handbooks Online
Philosopher's Index
Search several Ethics databases at once.
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