Jainism and Bioethics: Foundations and Application
Course 2009
Beyond its ethical aim of nonviolence, Jainism offers a rich account of birth, life, medicine, illness, and death. In this class, we will explore principles for bioethics in early Jain texts with some engagement with western normative ethical theories. We will also consider contemporary Jain views on reproductive ethics, antibiotics and vaccinations, animal ethics, organ donation, and dying and death in light of brief case studies.
Learning Objectives
- Identify unique Jain features of life and nonlife such as jīva, karma, multiple perspectivism.
- Describe how nonviolence fits in the wider Jain historical and soteriological framework.
- Articulate distinct Jain principles that apply to contemporary bioethical dilemmas.
- Compare features of Jain bioethical principles to western normative principles.
Course Details
• 20-hour self-study course.• Additional readings offered as support material.
• Professor available by appointment.
Learning Area
Jain Philosophy, History & Anthropology Instructor
Brianne Donaldson, PhD
Brianne Donaldson, PhD Brianne holds the Shri Parshvanath Presidential Chair in Jain Studies at University of California, Irvine.
Brianne explores the implicit foundational beliefs that inform social inclusion and ethical action toward plants, animals, and marginalized people. She is the author of Creaturely Cosmologies: Why Metaphysics Matters for Animal and Planetary Liberation (2015) exploring Jainism and Whitehead’s process philosophy, and Insistent Life: Principles for Bioethics in the Jain Tradition (2021, co-authored with Ana Bajželj). She is the editor of Beyond the Bifurcation of Nature: A Common World for Animals and the Environment (2014), The Future of Meat Without Animals (2016; co-edited with Christopher Carter), and Feeling Animal Death: Being Host to Ghosts (2019; co-edited with Ashley King). Brianne holds the Shri Parshvanath Presidential Chair in Jain Studies at University of California, Irvine.
Brianne explores the implicit foundational beliefs that inform social inclusion and ethical action toward plants, animals, and marginalized people. She is the author of Creaturely Cosmologies: Why Metaphysics Matters for Animal and Planetary Liberation (2015) exploring Jainism and Whitehead’s process philosophy, and Insistent Life: Principles for Bioethics in the Jain Tradition (2021, co-authored with Ana Bajželj). She is the editor of Beyond the Bifurcation of Nature: A Common World for Animals and the Environment (2014), The Future of Meat Without Animals (2016; co-edited with Christopher Carter), and Feeling Animal Death: Being Host to Ghosts (2019; co-edited with Ashley King). Brianne holds the Shri Parshvanath Presidential Chair in Jain Studies at University of California, Irvine.