PHIL220

Bioethics: Regulating Right and Wrong

Credit only granted for: PHIL209A or PHIL220. Formerly: PHIL209A. Bioethicists formulate ethical guidelines. They answer questions such as: When life-saving health resources are scarce, who should get them? Should we increase supply of one such resource, kidneys, by buying them from living "donors"? If drug trials in developing countries benefit patients who consent to participate, are the trials ethical, even if the same research would be forbidden in the US? If a sick person aims to hasten her death, how, if at all, might her doctor permissibly help her? In this course, students construct and defend ethical rules in four domains: research ethics, allocation of scarce resources, markets in organs, and physician-assisted dying.

Sister Courses: PHIL220H

Spring 2026

4 reviews
Average rating: 3.50

Winter 2026

0 reviews
Average rating: N/A

Fall 2025

4 reviews
Average rating: 3.50

Spring 2025

1 review
Average rating: 5.00

Past Semesters

0 reviews
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4 reviews
Average rating: 3.50

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4 reviews
Average rating: 4.00

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4 reviews
Average rating: 3.50

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4 reviews
Average rating: 4.00

4 reviews
Average rating: 3.50

0 reviews
Average rating: N/A

0 reviews
Average rating: N/A

During the Spring 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, students could choose to take some of their courses pass-fail mid-semester which skews grade data aggregated across multiple semesters.

Average GPA of 3.22 between 620 students*

PHIL220 Grade Distribution+-0510152025303540455055% of studentsABCDFWother
A-: 25.65%
A: 19.52%
A+: 5.65%
B-: 9.52%
B: 10.16%
B+: 17.42%
C-: 0.81%
C: 1.94%
C+: 2.26%
D-: 0.16%
D+: 0.32%
F: 1.94%
W: 4.19%
other: 0.48%
* "W"s are considered to be 0.0 quality points. "Other" grades are not factored into GPA calculation. Grade data not guaranteed to be correct.