PHIL 360 - Roe v. Wade and the Abortion Question

FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Planned Offering: Spring 2013 and alternate years

Prerequisite: Instructor consent. This course considers the question of whether abortion should be legal in a modern state from the perspectives of contemporary moral philosophy and U.S. law. For the first two weeks, we consider some of the most famous arguments for and against abortion from contemporary moral philosophers, law professors, and theologians. For the second two weeks, we consider the relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases that preceded the landmark Roe v. Wade (1973) case, and that case itself; we then consider the subsequent relevant cases, paying special attention to Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), and the more recent Stenberg v. Carhart (2000) and Gonzalez v. Carhart (2007). We listen to the oral arguments as they were presented to the Court in several of these cases, as well as watch some relevant films. Schedule permitting, we take a day trip to Washington, D.C. and visit the U.S. Supreme Court. Mahon.