55-01.202.414 The Ethics of Surrogacy (P)

Lehrende: Prof. Dr. Christine Straehle

Veranstaltungsart: Hauptseminar

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Semesterwochenstunden: 2

Credits: 4,0

Unterrichtssprache: Englisch

Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl: 1 | 21

Kontingentschema: Phil_Standard_WS1415

Weitere Informationen:
Für den erfolgreichen Besuch dieser Veranstaltung im Rahmen des Fachspezifischen Wahbereichs werden 4 LP angerechnet.

Kommentare/ Inhalte:
In ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’, Margaret Atwood describes a state, in which some women, the handmaids, are used to provide children to couples of the ruling classes who themselves are unable to conceive. The sexual exploitation of women looms large and the protagonists hope to escape. Yet surrogacy is increasingly a method of choice for homosexual male couples and heterosexual couples who can’t conceive on their own. The practice of surrogacy is regulated differently in different countries, however. In some, paid surrogacy is allowed, while in others only altruistic surrogacy is permitted. And in some countries, surrogacy is entirely prohibited. Critics of surrogacy argue that the practice is problematic for reasons of exploitation, the welfare of the child or the welfare of the surrogate, or all three. Defenders of surrogacy argue instead, that surrogacy is for many the only way to have a biologically related child. We don’t normally judge people for the wish to have children, so why should those choosing surrogacy to realize this wish be judged?

In this seminar, we will examine the main arguments for and against surrogacy as female labour. Students will be introduced to the main texts in the literature, as well as the background normative arguments, such as those pertaining to freedom of occupational choice, of disposing of one’s own body, arguments from individual autonomy on the one hand, and the literature pertaining to child welfare, exploitation and detrimental side-effects on the other.
 

Literatur:
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Zusätzliche Hinweise zu Prüfungen:
Studienleistungen:

• aktive Teilnahme
  
• sorgfältige Vor-/Nachbereitung der Seminarsitzung
  
• weitere Studienleistungen werden ggf. am Anfang der Veranstaltung bekannt gegeben
  

• Hausarbeit (o.ä.)