Deck 13: Environmental Ethics

Question 1

The anthropocentrist necessarily has no regard for the environment.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

In disputes about environmental issues, often there is substantial agreement on the nonmoral facts and serious divergence on

A) nonmoral principles.
B) nonmoral issues or judgments.
C) technical issues.
D) moral principles or judgments.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In both zoocentrism and biocentrism, the fundamental unit of moral consideration is the individual animal or plant.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

An anthropocentrist sees animals, plants, and ecosystems as

A) moral equals along with humans.
B) more natural than human beings.
C) means to unifying all life.
D) means to serve the ends of human beings.

Question 5

According to Peter Singer, the pain suffered by a human is ________ important than that experienced by a nonhuman animal.

A) no more
B) less
C) more
D) slightly less

Question 6

The questions of whether an ape has the same moral status as a domestic cow and if animals (human and nonhuman) deserve the same level of moral concern as plants concern the issue(s) of

A) centrism and noncentrism.
B) ecological individualism.
C) holism.
D) species egalitarianism or nonegalitarianism.

Question 7

The ecological individualist insists that we must take into consideration the interests of human beings only.

Question 8

If you were a species nonegalitarian, you would likely believe that

A) the question of moral status is irrelevant.
B) an elk has greater moral status than a potato.
C) elk and potatoes have equal moral status.
D) elk and potatoes have no moral status.

Question 9

If Kant's anthropocentric view is correct, then using animals in horrifically painful medical experiments would be permissible as long as the experiments served human needs.

Question 10

Something with intrinsic value is valuable

A) for someone else's sake.
B) for the sake of the environment.
C) as a means to something else.
D) for its own sake.

Question 11

A counterexample to biocentric egalitarianism is that we

A) know that killing a cow is no worse than killing a carrot.
B) think that killing a cow is no worse and no better than killing a carrot.
C) assume vegetables have the same moral status as primates.
D) tend to believe that killing a cow is worse than killing a carrot.

Question 12

Suppose you are the last human on a dead planet. Only one other living thing exists-a maple tree. You are preparing to leave the planet for good, and you are debating with yourself about whether you should kill the tree before departing. In the end, you decide it would be morally impermissible to kill the tree. Your reluctance to kill the tree shows that the tree has

A) no moral status.
B) instrumental value.
C) moral status.
D) aesthetic value.

Question 13

Which philosopher maintains that we must include the interests of all sentient creatures and give their interests equal weight when calculating which action will produce the greatest overall satisfaction of interests?

A) David Hume
B) Aldo Leopold
C) Thomas Aquinas
D) Peter Singer

Question 14

If Peter Singer's zoocentrist view is correct, then the practice of ________ would be impermissible.

A) leaving animals alone in the wild
B) grooming pets
C) factory farming
D) animal conservation

Question 15

Which anthropocentric philosopher said, "Animals . . . are there merely as means to an end. That end is man"?

A) Immanuel Kant
B) Thomas Aquinas
C) Paul Taylor
D) Tom Regan

Question 16

The difficulty underlying the moral dilemma of climate change boils down to what obligations, if any, we have to future generations.

Question 17

Suppose environmentalists want to prevent the disappearance of glaciers in Glacier National Park, which are melting away at an alarming rate. One report claims that slowing global warming can help prevent the melting, which would be accomplished by creating better fuel efficiency for cars and stronger energy efficiency standards for buildings and appliances. Laws passed to implement these higher standards would necessarily reflect a belief that glaciers have moral status.

Question 18

The controversy over the ivory-billed woodpecker has pitted those who want to build a massive irrigation project against environmentalists who want to stop the project to protect the woodpecker and other species. A biocentric species egalitarian would probably insist that the

A) project be completed but with rigid safeguards to protect all sentient beings.
B) project be completed to maximize the welfare of humans.
C) project be curtailed (but not stopped) to promote the interests of humans and the ivory-billed woodpecker only.
D) project be stopped to protect the ivory-billed woodpecker and all the other species of plants and animals.

Question 19

To some, the fact that we value the beauty of Niagara Falls shows that we

A) value the natural over the artificial.
B) sometimes value the artificial over the natural.
C) don't really value nature.
D) think unnatural things are worthless.

Question 20

Those who believe that nature possesses instrumental value only are likely to believe that a forest has value only because of its economic worth.

Question 21

One who believes that some living things have greater moral status than others is known as a species ________.

Question 22

A ________ holds the view that all living entities have moral status, whether sentient or not.

Question 23

The view called ________ says that, when considering our moral obligations to the environment, the good of the whole should always outweigh the good of an individual.

Question 24

A being has ________ when it is a suitable candidate for direct moral concern or respect.

Question 25

The notion that only humans have moral status is called ________.