Death and Dying

Study Course Description

Course Description Statuss:Approved

Course Description Version:8.00

Study Course Accepted:08.08.2024 08:53:01

Study Course Information
Course Code:		HZK_031		LQF level:		Level 7
Credit Points:		2.00		ECTS:		3.00
Branch of Science:		Philosophy; Philosophical Anthropology		Target Audience:		Medicine
Study Course Supervisor
Course Supervisor:		Uldis Vēgners
Study Course Implementer
Structural Unit:		Faculty of Social Sciences
The Head of Structural Unit:
Contacts:		Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szfrsu[pnkts]lv
Study Course Planning
Full-Time - Semester No.1
Lectures (count)		6	Lecture Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Lectures		12
Classes (count)		10	Class Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Classes		20
Total Contact Hours								32
Study course description
Preliminary Knowledge:
Not necessary.
Objective:
To introduce students to philosophical approaches to death and dying, focusing on metaphysical, epistemological, existential, ethical and social questions concerning this topic.
Topic Layout (Full-Time)
No.	Topic			Type of Implementation		Number	Venue
1	Introduction. How and why should death and dying be studied?			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
2	Metaphysical and epistemological aspects of death and dying			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
3	Definitions of death			Classes		1.00	auditorium
4	Near-death experiences			Classes		1.00	auditorium
5	Existential aspects of death and dying			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
6	Fear of death and the meaning of life			Classes		1.00	auditorium
7	Immortality and the value of death			Classes		1.00	auditorium
8	Ethical aspects of death and dying I			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
9	Ethical aspects of death and dying II			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
10	Good dying: how dying people feel about death and dying			Classes		1.00	auditorium
11	Suicide			Classes		1.00	auditorium
12	Euthanasia and assisted suicide			Classes		1.00	auditorium
13	Posthumous harm			Classes		1.00	auditorium
14	Social aspects of death and dying			Lectures		1.00	other
15	Attitude of medical professionals towards death and dying			Classes		1.00	auditorium
16	Various social and cultural attitudes towards death and dying			Classes		1.00	auditorium
Assessment
Unaided Work:
1. Students have to read the compulsory literature and the reading materials for the seminars. Before every seminar students have to read a dedicated reading material and must be prepared to answer questions about the main concepts, ideas and arguments of that reading material. 2. Students independently prepare for the examination about the topics from lectures and seminars. 3. At the end of the course students take course evaluation survey on the e-studies.
Assessment Criteria:
1. Participation in seminars individually or in a group (60% from the final grade). Students actively participate in all seminar, understand and can formulate the ideas expressed in the seminar reading material, productively engage in discussions about the issues of the semianr topic, argue their position, use appropriate terminology in discussions, as well as refer to the seminar reading material in discussions. 2. Examination (40% from the final grade). Students take a written examination, in which they have to show the acquired knowledge about the topics covered in the course.
Final Examination (Full-Time):		Exam
Final Examination (Part-Time):
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:		Students know and understand the major philosophical topics and issues concerning death and dying (metaphysical, epistemological, existential, ethical and cultural), as well as the main concepts related to these issues (death, euthanasia, assisted suicide, posthumous harm, social death). They will also be able to evaluate the importance of philosophical topics concerning death and dying in the context of health care.
Skills:		Students can describe and compare different approaches to death and dying, form their position and provide arguments, analyse and critically evaluate topic related philosophical issues in health and social care. Students apply the acquired knowledge to evaluate their own and societal attitudes toward death and dying people.
Competencies:		Students are able to understand, interpret and analytically evaluate philosophical aspects of death and dying. Using the acquired knowledge, students are able to participate in academic and public discussions concerning issues of death and dying. Students are also be able to analyse a variety of problems related to the health care practices concerning death and dying.
Bibliography
No.	Reference
Required Reading
1	Cholbi, M. and Timmerman, T., eds. 2021. Exploring the Philosophy of Death and Dying: Classical and Contemporary Perspectives. New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
2	Cutter, M. A. G. 2019. Death: A Reader. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
3	Kiblere-Rosa, E. 2012. Aizejot - mirstošo cilvēku mācība tuviniekiem, ārstiem un garīdzniekiem. Rīga: Lietusdārzs. (akceptējams izdevums) (latviešu plūsmas studentiem)
4	Luper, S., ed. 2014. The Cambridge Companion to Life and Death. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Additional Reading
1	Cholbi, M. 2021. Suicide. In: Zalta, E. N., ed. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
2	DeGrazia, D. 2021. The Definition of Death. In: Zalta E. N., ed. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. [26.03.2022.]
3	Dranseika, Vilius, and Ivars Neiders. 2018. “In Defense of a Pluralistic Policy on the Determination of Death.” Ethics & Bioethics 8 (3–4): 179–88. [26.03.2022.]
4	Hasker, W., and Taliaferro, C. 2019. Afterlife. In: Zalta, E. N., ed. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. [26.03.2022.]
5	Knepper, T. D., Bregman, L., and Gottschalk, M., eds. 2019. Death and Dying: An Exercise in Comparative Philosophy of Religion. Cham: Springer.
6	Luper, S. 2021. Death. In: Zalta, E. N., ed. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University. [viewed 26.03.2022.]
Other Information Sources
1	International Association for the Philosophy of Death and Dying.