Questions: Justice and Health Care
There are roughly two questions to answer this week:1) In the section entitled “The Special Importance of Health care”, the President’s Commission argues that health care is not simply a commodity, like a T.V.. It is a fundamental necessity for being a full member of our society, much like early education. Notice the Commission’s arguments for this point. Are they right? Is there good reason to think that health care should be seen more like a T.V. or education (for which we should give access to all in this country), or something in between? Why do you think so?
Length: 350 wordsAs you answer this question, please refer to the arguments for the importance of health care found in the President’s Commission’s article. You may also refer to Engelhardt’s essay. To cite passages from their essays, simply place the author’s name and a pg. # in parentheses next to the quote or relevant part of your essay. 2) Engelhardt argues that society does not owe it’s members health care. He offers several arguments in favor of this claim, some of which are harder to understand than others. One of the claims he makes first is that it is impossible to provide access to health care for all, but by the end, he argues that we have no ethical obligation to provide access to health care.. Keep in mind: Engelhardt is talking about a different Commission’s plan in the first part of his essay. Moving past the eary part to Engelhardt’s ethical claims – such as the ones I mention in my outline of Engelhardt – what in his claims did you find interesting? Which do you have questions about? This is a chance to think about, and work through, some of the challenging and interesting ethical claims he makes. Length: 350 words
Again, this is a heated topic in our country. Do your best to stand back and think about the reasons behind your beliefs, whatever they are. We are each doing our best to understand the right thing to do. That’s always a good approach in this class. 🙂
