Philosophy in Action II

Full course description

Sophia II is taught in two separate trajectories, one in autumn and one in spring.

In the first part of the Sophia II trajectory, students will be made aware of and analyze the ethical aspects of both predictive genetic testing for (future) diseases and the trend to emphasize ‘personal and parental responsibility for health’.

In the second part of the Sophia II trajectory, students will venture into the philosophy and the sociology of science. Both of these disciplines study science, its processes, its object, its culture and its inhabitants not unlike science itself studies a multitude of natural or social objects. Over the course of the Sophia trajectory ‘Credibility in and of science’, students will encounter a number of (probably) familiar and (possibly) less familiar ways to think about what science is and does, and how it is related to society at large.

Combined, the two parts of Sophia II will offer students the capacity to critically reflect on social, political, international and normative issues in biomedical science and critically reflect on the nature of science itself. 

The mark is calculated as the average of the mark for the course part I and course part II [50% each], in which part I requires attendance at the symposium, a passing grade for the presentation and reflection and a sufficient score for the group paper. Part II requires attendance in group discussion meetings and its grade is derived from the pod-cast mark (85%) and the group reflection (15%).