Deck 11: Working With Mother Nature: Environmental Ethics and Business Ecology

Question 1

Are we too busy to think about posterity? What duties do we have toward the environment?

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

Why might one argue that political questions are all economic? How does Sagoff respond? Offer two critiques of Sagoff's response.

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

People or penguins? What does Baxter say and why? What do you say and why?

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

What is the meaning of work? What are four different ways work has been viewed as meaningful in history?

Question 5

Write a short debate between Sagoff and Baxter on how business should interact with the environment. Now add Singer to the debate. Who does he agree with, and why?

Question 6

Explain business's argument to avoid a special obligation to protect the environment. What does Bowie say about this argument? What do you think?

Question 7

What is speciesism? Why should we avoid it? Why might that fundamentally change the way we deal with our obligations to the environment?

Question 8

Michael Antoniou writes that "[u]sing genetic engineering in agriculture is like trying to fix something that has nothing wrong with it in the first place." Is he right? Why or why not?

Question 9

Should you own an SUV? Why or why not? Should we outlaw certain kinds of vehicles? Or how might we better regulate unusually wasteful or environmentally destructive consumer goods?

Question 10

Which of these factors is NOT considered in the introduction to this chapter regarding the dilemma about buying an SUV?

A) It carries a lot of gear.
B) It burns a lot of expensive gas.
C) It looks impressive.
D) It is safer than a small car.
E) It puts out more emissions and pollutes the air.

Question 11

What is the main moral point of Leopold's article about the Flambeau River?

A) The river is an end in itself.
B) The river provides important resources for building.
C) The river is an important wildlife habitat.
D) The river has economic importance for people living in the area.
E) The river offers a special sort of experience that our grandchildren may not get.

Question 12

__________ decisions and __________ decisions are not always the same in Sagoff's view.

A) Political, military
B) Economic, environmental
C) Economic, military
D) Political, economic
E) None of the above

Question 13

The current environmental policy is, in Sagoff's words, "pitched entirely at the level of the __________."
K) corporation
L) legislative branch
M) consumer
N) small business
O) None of the above

Question 14

It seems as though spending money to preserve open space is less what overall?

A) Expensive
B) Efficient
C) Religious
D) Environmentally friendly
E) All of the above

Question 15

Not all of us, according to Sagoff, see "ourselves simply as __________."

A) business moguls
B) human beings
C) kings
D) consumers
E) children

Question 16

Cost-benefit analysis typically treats all __________ judgments, other than ones that support its behalf, as mere __________.

A) political, guidelines
B) value, guidelines
C) value, preferences
D) preference, value
E) partisan, suggestions

Question 17

For Leopold, what gave the adventurers thrills?

A) The elemental simplicity of wilderness
B) The complete freedom to make mistakes
C) Knowing that one must never make mistakes
D) Both (a) and (b)
E) None of the above

Question 18

Knowing what one is attempting to accomplish is a helpful approach when trying to do what?

A) Make a new policy
B) Deal with any problem
C) Deal with an international issue
D) Create a new value
E) Sidestep an issue

Question 19

Baxter shows how specific questions regarding policies, such as those of an environmental nature, are one way of uncovering what?

A) Specific individual motives
B) General community goals
C) A scandal
D) A general policy agenda
E) Governmental disingenuousness

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT one of Baxter's criteria that constitute his position regarding pollution?

A) The spheres of freedom criterion
B) Waste is bad.
C) Humans should not be considered a means.
D) Incentive and opportunity to gain satisfaction
E) Redistribution of pollution

Question 21

Friedman believes who is to blame for pollution?

A) Government officials
B) Dairy farmers
C) Scientists
D) Consumers
E) All of the above

Question 22

What proposition does Baxter reject in regard to preserving the environment?

A) It should be done at all costs.
B) It should only be done when it is to the benefit of man.
C) Preserving the environment should be the consumers' responsibility.
D) Businesses have no ethical responsibility to help the environment.
E) None of the above

Question 23

Although Bowie agrees that business has an obligation to protect the environment, where is it that Bowie would disagree with many environmentalists?

A) In where the power to bring about change lies
B) In where the obligation lies
C) In where the money must come from within the business
D) In whether or not the government should help
E) In whether or not the ozone layer is at risk

Question 24

If a business illegally dumps waste into the environment, what would Bowie say that business had done wrong?

A) Failed in a duty to protect the environment
B) Failed in a duty to protect the local community
C) Failed in a duty to conserve natural resources
D) Broken the law
E) All of the above.

Question 25

It is a principle of ethics that "ought" implies "can." What does this mean?

A) If you can do something, you ought to do it.
B) There are some things you ought to do, but you can't.
C) There are some things you can do, but you ought not.
D) You are only morally responsible for things that you are capable of doing.
E) You are only morally responsible for things that you ought to do.

Question 26

Bowie believes that most of business's unethical conduct regarding the environment happens:

A) Through interfering in politics
B) Through finding loopholes in the law
C) Through valuing profits over people
D) Through valuing profits over the earth
E) Through using environmentalist propaganda to sell products

Question 27

According to Bowie, environmentalist policies are contrary to a politician's self-interest because:

A) Politicians do not care about the earth.
B) Voters do not care about the earth.
C) Lobbyists care only about big corporations.
D) Environmentalist policies are bad for the economy.
E) Environmental benefits are very long term, and the costs are short term.

Question 28

Singer believes that we can harm __________ by harming the environment.

A) sea creatures
B) the whole earth
C) ourselves
D) mountain birds
E) the coral reef

Question 29

Singer's term "speciesism" refers to the belief that:

A) Other species should not be treated the same as humans.
B) Other species should be treated the same as humans.
C) The suffering of other species has no moral significance.
D) Everyone should be vegetarian.
E) Nonhuman animals can feel pain.

Question 30

Singer believes that humans, but also what, have interests?

A) Markets
B) Nonhumans
C) Aliens
D) Algae
E) Machines

Question 31

What is Singer's point about pest control?

A) We should look for methods that cause animals less pain and suffering.
B) We should not kill pest animals, because they should be treated equally with humans.
C) We should consider restricting pest animals from breeding.
D) Both (b) and (c)
E) Both (a) and (c)

Question 32

Singer's main point about animals is that:

A) Causing them to suffer is morally wrong.
B) They should have equal rights with humans.
C) We should love them as brothers and sisters.
D) We should not allow species to go extinct.
E) Harming animals harms ourselves.

Question 33

Which of the following is a way in which certain GM crops are superior to their non-GM relatives?

A) Some GM crops have better nutritional content.
B) Some GM crops produce larger yields.
C) Some GM crops require less pesticide to protect.
D) Some GM crops are more resistant to fungus.
E) All of the above.

Question 34

Which of the following is a US government agency that has a say about each GM crop that gets developed and sold domestically?

A) The Department of Agriculture.
B) The Department of Defense.
C) The Environmental Protection Agency.
D) Both (a) and (c)
E) All of (a), (b), and (c)

Question 35

For every pair of shoes sold, Toms Shoes gives a pair of shoes to a child in a developing nation. What is the problem with this model of charitable giving?

A) The children don't really need shoes.
B) The free shoes damage the local economy by undercutting local businesses.
C) The project is a short-term fix that won't lift the community out of poverty.
D) Both (b) and (c)
E) All of (a), (b), and c

Question 36

Many of the changes to the Flambeau River are due to logging.

Question 37

Leopold is unaffected by the changes to his "wild river."

Question 38

Luther Standing Bear understood the land as "tame" rather than as a "wilderness."

Question 39

For Sagoff, most important political decisions are and ought to be economic.

Question 40

Sagoff thinks we are consistent in our preferences as consumers and as citizens.

Question 41

The concept of liberty is the same now as it was in ancient times.

Question 42

Kant believed the individual to be a creator of values.

Question 43

The Kantian approach to valuation assumes that some policy recommendations can be justified on objective grounds.

Question 44

Both tyranny and legitimate authority are always easily discernible.

Question 45

Baxter believes there is no "right" state of nature to which we should return.

Question 46

Baxter argues that it makes no difference whether we describe a cost in terms of dollars or resources.

Question 47

According to Baxter, our goal is an optimal state of pollution.

Question 48

Bowie says that business has a moral duty to avoid interfering in politics to try to defeat environmentalist legislation.

Question 49

Bowie says that business has a moral duty to protect the environment, over and above obeying the law.

Question 50

By "nonhumans," Singer is talking about all objects on the planet except humans and other primates.

Question 51

Singer believes that the view that our actions that affect nonhuman animals have no moral significance is arbitrary, at best.

Question 52

Singer believes that nonhuman animals have interests just as we humans do.

Question 53

Genetic modification of crops is something human beings have only started doing in the last several decades.

Question 54

Experts agree that GM crop technology and production in the U.S. are sufficiently well-regulated.

Question 55

Everyone agrees that genetically modifying plants is unnatural.

Question 56

Large corporations can make a positive difference even by making small changes.

Question 57

For Leopold, the wilderness represents the freedom to ______________.

Question 58

Sagoff believes we often have inconsistent preferences in our dual roles as ___________ and _________________.

Question 59

A cost-benefit analysis can risk substituting _____________ for safety.

Question 60

For Kant, a _______________ claims to be true, not just to be felt.

Question 61

Baxter believes there is an optimal level of _____________ for the greatest human satisfaction.

Question 62

Baxter believes that every person should be ___________ unless his or her actions interfere with the interests of other human beings.

Question 63

Businesses have an obligation to the __________, according to Bowie, not necessarily to the environment.

Question 64

Friedman points out that ______________ create demand for pollution.

Question 65

Bowie points out that Exxon, when charged with following inadequate cleanup procedures, might have been __________ at fault if their employees implemented cleanup procedures incorrectly, but this does not mean they are necessarily morally at fault.

Question 66

In ethics, it is a fundamental principle that "ought" implies "__________."

Question 67

Automakers sacrifice maximum __________ when building their vehicles to increase profits.

Question 68

Environmentalists worry that we underestimate the public's want of __________ products.

Question 69

An ancient Indian proverb states that "we do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we __________ it from our Children."

Question 70

Most environmental issues, such as conservation, are not advantageous for most ____________.

Question 71

A(n) __________ is any living organism except a human being.

Question 72

The State Conservation Department began to rebuild a fifty-mile stretch of the _____________ in 1943.

Question 73

The way we treat animals overall, for Singer, is a good indication of our __________.

Question 74

"Golden rice," a GM crop, is superior to its non-GM relative in that it stimulates consumers to produce __________, a deficiency in which kills two million children a year.

Question 75

According to proponents of GM crops, certain GM crops can reduce the need for environmentally harmful __________ because those crops are designed with a natural resistance to insects.

Question 76

___________ was invented as a flame retardant but was found to cause cancer in children.