Medicine is a philosophical, not merely a practical, empirical enterprise. This distance education course covers philosophical concepts which are widely used to evaluate health and health-practices include: autonomy, consent, mind, will, rights, harm, fairness, dignity, truth and even `health' itself. Issues central to health and health care practice include: the nature of professional-client relationships, genetic counseling, passive and active euthanasia, pharmacology and behaviour modification, resource allocation, and the special set of issues raised by reproductive technologies.