George Mason University Bioethics Research on Stem Cells Presentation

The Assignment:

You are asked to choose an issue in “bioethics” (broadly construed) that you find
interesting and is not one of the topics we cover in the course. (Confirm your topic with me before starting to make sure it’s not a topic covered in the course)

Your topic or issue can be something that you read about in a newspaper or magazine, or
it can be a case study that you come across and find interesting. You should indicate your source somewhere on
your presentation.

The length of your presentation is the same as for Project I (1-2 slides for each of the four
parts described below).

Part 1: Identify debatable proposition

• Briefly describe the case study, article, or other source in enough detail that a
newcomer to the subject could be expected to grasp or have a clear appreciation
of the debatable proposition that you are to identify in this part of your
presentation. Of key importance is that you present each side as a plausible
position (as an issue that we should expect to find reasonable people on both sides
of).

Part 2: Argument on the one side

• Give what you judge to be the most compelling reason in support of one side. If
your argument takes a consequentialist form, or uses Kantian language, you
should say that, but you are not required to base any of your reasons on
consequentialism or the like. You should give the reason (the argument in
support of the reason) that you find the intuitively most compelling even if it
doesn’t obviously fit one of these categories.

Part 3: Argument on the other side

• Now do the same for the other side of the issue.

Part 4: Declare a winner

• Say which side has the force of the better argument and explain why. The easiest
way to justify your choice is by pointing to any flaws or weaknesses you find in
the losing argument, although you may justify your choice of the winning
argument in another way if that seems more natural to you.