Chapter 12 The Ethical Treatment of Animals Inquizitive Exam Practice

Chapter 12: The Ethical Treatment of Animals Inquizitive Exam Practice: 1. According to Mary Anne Warren, what is a reason to reject Tome Regan’s argument? - The rights of nonhuman animals are weaker than the rights of humans. 2. If we adopt Tom Regan’s view, which of the following practices should be banned? - Banned: Animal experimentation. Commercial animal agriculture. Hunting for sport. - Not Banned: Killing an animal in self-defense. 3. Match each of the proposed criteria for rejecting the moral status of animals with the counterarguments often used to refute them. - Animals aren’t rational moral agents: this sets the bar too high for moral value. - Animals don’t have souls: philosophers have a preference for a reason and argumentation over faith. - Animals don’t have sophisticated linguistic skills: scientific discoveries refute this claim 4. According to Regan, selecting some valuable property as setting human beings above animals runs into serious problems. For example, if we say animals have a weaker moral status because they lack the ability to reason, this would also extend to the mentally ill. This opens to door to some morally dubious conclusions that violate a basic sense of inherent value, which corresponds to a principle of equal treatment. 5. Those advocating a position of strong animal rights, which extends a high degree of moral respect to animals, are drawing primarily on which normative moral framework? - Non-Consequentialism. 6. When it comes to defending animal rights, what is a major alternative starting point to basing moral status on “higher capacities” like free and autonomous thought or complex language capabilities? - Animals can suffer. 7. One implication of Singer’s view is that the current system of meat production is morally wrong. For a utilitarian, which of the following criteria would be relevant to Singer’s argument? - Relevant: The loss of animal life. The pain of confinement for farm animals. The pleasure I have eating a tasty steak. - Irrelevant: The intrinsic rights of animals. 8. In what way(s) does Tom Regan justify his conception of the ethical treatment of animals? - Used Justification: Both animals and humans possess inherent value that cannot be easily overridden. Both animals and humans have experiences and are subjects of a life. - Not Used: Both animals and humans have instrumental value. Both animals and humans have the capacity to suffer. 9. Reasons to question Tom Regan’s argument for human rights: - The link between inherent rights and moral value is obscure. - The conclusion contrasts with our moral intuitions. Not Reasons: - The argument uses empirically unsound premises. - The argument is invalid. 10. The main point of contention between Mary Anne Warren and Tom Regan is whether animals have rights, or whether rights are a concept that only applies to humans. False 11. Those who reject the traditional attitude toward animals have targeted which of the following areas in making their case for animal rights? - Challenges to the traditional attitude: Scientific Research. Food Production. - Not challenges to the traditional attitude: The character of philosophers who upheld the traditional attitude. The representation of animals in media. 12. Passages that deny direct moral value to animals: - Cruelty to animals makes us callous toward our fellow human beings. - Animals are persons. 13. Most philosophers agree that animals are worthy of at least some degree of moral respect and concern because they, like human beings, are sentient. However, this still leaves significant room for disagreement over the proper level of moral concerns towards animals. 14. Refusing to extend strong moral consideration to animals is consistent with JudeoChristian religious views. True 15. If you feel that it is permissible to experiment on an adult chimpanzee, but impermissible to experiment on a severely cognitively impaired human baby, what, according to Peter Singer, would you be guilty of? Speciesism 16. According to Jeremy Bentham, which of characteristics are morally relevant when considering the treatment of animals? Relevant: - Their capacity to suffer Irrelevant: - Their capacity to communicate. - Their capacity to reproduce. - Their capacity to reason. 17. Many experiments in medical research involve the use of live animals. Moreover, such experimentation causes a great deal of suffering for these animals. Peter Singer believes that these kinds of experiments are sometimes justified. In general, his main criticism of animal is experimentation is that it benefits are too negligible to offset harms. 18. Classic utilitarianism evaluates the principle of right action as that which produces the best balance of happiness over unhappiness (or pleasure over pain) for all affected parties. How did Peter Singer extend this principle in his book Animal Liberation? - He included animals in this calculation. 19. What property is Tom Regan invoking when he writes that “All who have inherent value have it equally, whether they be humans or not”? - Being an experiencing subject. 20. Why according to Peter Singer, is speciesism is akin to other forms of discrimination like racism and sexism? - It denies equal consideration of equal interests. 21. According to Mary Anne Warren, human life has more intrinsic value than the life of nonhuman animals. This is because human lives are worth more to their possessors. However, animal lives also have inherent value, albeit in a weaker sense. For animals, this value comes from their interest in future pleasures. 22. Traditional views toward animals: - It is permissible to kill animals. - They lack sentience. - They have instrumental value alone. Non-Traditional: - They have intrinsic moral worth. 23. Direct Moral Consideration: - The respect I accord your chicken because she has sentience. - The respect I accord my neighbor. - The respect I accord your dog because she is a dog. Indirect Moral Consideration: - The respect I accord your dog because she is your pet. - The respect I accord your llama because she is an important part of your petting zoo. 24. As advocates for animal rights, Peter Singer and Tom Regan agree that all forms of animal experimentation should be abolished. False 25. Direct Moral Consideration (Animals): - Providing comfortable housing for one’s horses. - Hitting a dog to prevent it from running into traffic. Indirect Moral Consideration: - Changing a chicken’s food to increase its egg yield. - Providing a horse with a more comfortable saddle so as to increase the distance it can travel.