Bioethical Manifesto

Bioethical Manifesto

Overview

For this assignment, you will write a short statement that analyzes an ethical dilemma and proposes a solution. In this paper, you will consider an apocalyptic scenario and explain how humanity’s bioethical approach may have contributed to or caused this situation.

This assignment asks you to begin formulating your own bioethical principles. To do this, you will use the knowledge of ethical theories and perspectives from your reading and your own analysis of the scenario. This bioethical manifesto will be your foundational work on a broadly applicable bioethical statement for your personal and professional life that is part of your course project.

Assignment Instructions

Imagine that you are the last survivor of an apocalypse caused by an outbreak of a deadly virus resulting from contemporary scientific experiments (the specifics are not important). Realizing that life of some kind may emerge after you are gone, write a manifesto on bioethics. Your manifesto will briefly explain humanity’s understanding of bioethics, analyze how humanity’s bioethical approach may have led to this disaster (again, the specifics of the outbreak are not important; focus on the ethical perspectives and reasoning), and propose an ethical approach that will avoid such a disaster in the future.

Assume that all you know about bioethics is what you learned from your studies this week. You do not have a computer, and paper and ink are scarce—so make it count in one page.

Your assignment will be scored according to the criteria outlined in the Bioethical Manifesto Scoring Guide. Refer to the scoring guide often as you develop your assignment, to be sure you are addressing the essential criteria.

Submission Requirements

Academic honesty: Submit your paper to Turnitin before you submit it for grading.
Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: Resources and citations should be formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
Length: 1 double-spaced, typed page.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12-point.

CRITERIA	NON-PERFORMANCE	BASIC	PROFICIENT	DISTINGUISHED
Describe, accurately, the current state of bioethical understanding. 30%	Does not describe current state of bioethical understanding.	Describes current state of bioethical understanding with insufficient depth and detail.	Describes, accurately, the current state of bioethical understanding.	Describes current state of bioethical understanding with exceptional depth and detail.
Analyze how a faulty approach to bioethics may lead to disaster. 30%	Does not summarize how a faulty approach to bioethics may lead to disaster.	Summarizes a faulty approach to bioethics, without clear causal connection to a resulting disaster.	Analyzes how a faulty approach to bioethics may lead to disaster.	Correlates a disastrous outcome with a human bioethical failure, with a convincing argument about the causal ethics failure.
Explore practical and sound arguments to address bioethical issues. 30%	Does not describe an approach to bioethical issues.	Describes an approach to bioethical issues, without demonstrating their practicality or soundness.	Explores practical and sound arguments to address bioethical issues.	Elaborates a holistic approach to bioethical issues.
Construct a logical, organized, written argument with few mechanical errors. 10%	Does not outline an argument and/or performs mechanical errors that inhibit comprehension.	Outlines an argument with significant mechanical errors.	Constructs a logical, organized, written argument with few mechanical errors.	Constructs an argument with exemplary mechanics and expression.