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Section 1: Overview

The Common Good vs. Individual Rights and Personal Liberty

We will first examine the Central Question: How do we balance the common good with individual rights and personal liberty? by examining philosophical perspectives and seminal US documents that establish the importance of promoting the general welfare of all Americans and guaranteeing the unalienable rights of individual citizens. As we prepare to apply our understanding of ethics in public health, we will analyze informational texts and infographics to better understand the topics of infectious diseases, immunity, vaccination, and the issues surrounding them. To build our background knowledge, we will consider a set of research questions and work in teams to develop an informational presentation for the class.

  • Lesson 1:

    We will consider and discuss the unit’s Central Question: How do we balance the common good with individual rights and personal liberty? We will think about complex issues in society in which this balancing act is difficult and often leads to controversy or conflict. Through short animated videos, we will also explore philosophical theories that lean toward one side or the other of the balancing act and consider an ethical problem in light of those theories.

  • Lesson 2:

    As we begin to think about how the common good and personal liberty apply in the realm of public health decision-making in the US, we will do a close reading and discussion of ideas expressed in seminal documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We will determine the meaning of key vocabulary in the texts.

  • Lesson 3:

    We will continue to build our understanding of philosophical, religious, and political theories connected to the concepts of the common good and personal liberty by viewing and comparing animated video explanations of the two perspectives. To further explore how the common good and individual rights apply to ethical decision making, we will review “A Framework for Ethical Decision Making,” focusing on how these two perspectives align with other approaches when considering ethical decisions. We will then consider how ethics and these two approaches are reflected in a seminal document from the healthcare field, the Hippocratic Oath.

  • Lesson 4:

    We will explore and review current issues and questions in ethics, public health, and the use of vaccines to prevent infectious diseases by investigating relevant websites: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resources and the College of Physicians of Philadelphia History of Vaccines site. We will work in teams to explore one of these resources, then report what we have discovered. As a class, we will develop a list of current healthcare issues and questions that need to be considered in relation to both the common good and personal liberty, and that might be studied through various ethical approaches in this unit.

  • Lesson 5:

    We will begin to focus on the development, implementation, and mandating of vaccines designed to protect human populations from infectious diseases, a realm of public health decision-making in which the common good and personal liberty have come into conflict.

    In light of these readings, we will preview the Culminating Task.

  • Lesson 6:

    We will consider a hypothetical ethical dilemma from the realm of public health and the prevention of infectious diseases. We will analyze the issues, questions, and perspectives inherent in the dilemma and consider how various ethical approaches might view it. We will then individually determine what our decision would be in the face of the dilemma. We will write an explanation of our decision, summarizing how one or more ethical approaches have been influential in our thinking. We might also engage in a classroom discussion or debate about the various decision-making options and their justifications on ethical terms.

  • Lesson 7:

    As an introduction to the public health realm of infectious diseases and vaccines designed to prevent them, and in preparation for the Lesson 7 Section Diagnostic, we will conduct expert research team investigations into important questions. Each team will study an infographic, article, and video to gather information that can be shared with others in the class. Following our research, each team will present its findings to the class in an informational forum in the next lesson for the Section Diagnostic.

  • Lesson 8:

    We will integrate our newfound understanding of approaches to ethical decision making, public health controversies, and vaccinations by working in research teams to address investigative questions, interpret informational texts and infographics, and develop evidence-based claims that summarize what we have learned about our topics and their relationship to the ethics of public health. We will participate in an informational presentation for the class or another public audience. Following the presentation, we will write a short reflective narrative.

  • Lesson 9:

    We will review the teacher’s feedback on our Section Diagnostic and will use the feedback to make revisions to our work.

  • Lesson 10:

    We will commence an Independent Reading Program in which we choose texts to read independently as we progress through the unit. We will learn how to choose texts, what activities we may complete, about the final task, and about any materials we will use as we read our independent reading texts. We will begin by reading our texts, using tools to help us take notes and analyze important textual elements.