Deck 30: Puppies, Pigs, and People: Eating Meat and Marginal Cases

Question 1

How good is the analogy between what Fred does and what you do (assuming that you eat products from factory farms)? Defend your answer, being sure not to ignore Alastair Norcross's responses to potential disanalogies.

Answer 1

-Demonstrate understanding of Norcross's analogy and his replies to potential disanalogies.
-Develop a thoughtful position on the merits of the analogy, correctly identifying and defending controversial claims using sound reasoning, well-chosen examples, insightful analogies, etc.

Question 2

Explain Alastair Norcross's two responses to the causal impotence problem. Then, choose one of them and offer the best objection to his response that you can. Finally, consider how Norcross might respond to your objection.

Answer 2

-Correctly explain Norcross's responses.
-Develop a thoughtful objection, correctly identifying and defending controversial claims using sound reasoning, well-chosen examples, insightful analogies, etc.
-Offer a reply that demonstrates both understanding of Norcross's view and the ability to apply it.

Question 3

Alastair Norcross points out that while most Americans are opposed to eating dogs, people in some other countries are not. Ultimately, he concludes that it doesn't matter what people think about dogs-it just matters whether dogs would suffer if abused. Explain how Norcross gets from his observation about cultural differences to the conclusion that cultural difference doesn't matter because what matters is what dogs are like. Then, assess this argument. Is it a good argument? Why or why not?

Answer 3

-Correctly explain Norcross's argument regarding cultural difference and its moral irrelevance.
-Develop a thoughtful position on Norcross's argument, correctly identifying and defending controversial claims using sound reasoning, well-chosen examples, insightful analogies, etc.

Question 4

What was Norcross's purpose in telling the reader about Fred's involvement with the 26 puppies?

A) To argue that Fred's actions are similar to our actions as consumers of animal products
B) To argue that Fred's actions are similar to our actions as consumers of products from factory farms
C) To criticize animal cruelty
D) To show how important it is to use anesthesia when handling animals in cages
E) All of the above

Question 5

What is Norcross's response to the idea that the morally relevant difference between us and Fred is that Fred tortures the puppies himself, whereas most Americans consume meat that comes from animals that have been tortured by others.

A) We commonly accept that even small risks of great harms are unacceptable
B) Farm animals are deserving of more moral concern than puppies
C) Whatever good could plausibly be claimed to come out of the system clearly doesn't outweigh the bad
D) We wouldn't have thought any better of Fred if he had been squeamish and had employed someone else to torture the puppies
E) The torture of farm animals is in fact much worse than Fred's treatment of the puppies he tortures

Question 6

Norcross states that the common response of "causal impotence" is ________:

A) Wishful thinking
B) An adequate justification
C) An adequate explanation
D) Verifiably insane
E) Necessarily true

Question 7

What does the doctrine of double effect principle highlight?

A) The difference between intended and foreseen actions
B) The increased effectiveness of vegetarians converting others to vegetarianism
C) The effect of increased consumption of meat
D) Our reliance on both industrial and small-scale farming
E) The badness of torture and intentional suffering

Question 8

What is something that, according to Norcross, separates puppies from farm animals?

A) Our sympathy
B) Intelligence
C) The quality of the meat
D) Evolutionary necessity
E) Their capacity for sorrow

Question 9

Giving up factory-raised chicken has only a tiny chance of preventing suffering. According to Norcross, what does this show?

A) That some consumption is permissible
B) That some consumption is excusable
C) That only producers are blameworthy
D) That we need to participate in political lobbying against factory farming
E) Nothing

Question 10

What is the point of the "Chocolate Mousse a la Bama" story?

A) It doesn't matter whether we care more about puppies than farm animals
B) It doesn't matter whether abstaining from meat prevents animals from being harmed
C) It doesn't matter whether different cultures have different views of different animals
D) It doesn't matter whether you intend or merely foresee the harm that comes to farm animals
E) It doesn't matter what you do so long as you can't change the system

Question 11

The story about Fred involves the cocoamone hormone production because ________:

A) Just as meat is essential for health, so cocoamone is supposed to be essential for health
B) Just as people like the taste of meat, so cocoamone is supposed to increase Fred's gustatory pleasure
C) Just as meat production is essential for the economy, so cocoamone is supposed to be essential for Alabama's economy
D) Just as meat is bad for your health, so cocoamone is supposed to be bad for your health
E) None of the above

Question 12

In Norcross's initial story, Fred tries to defend himself by saying what?

A) He doesn't directly harm the puppies-other people do that
B) He doesn't want to harm the puppies-it's just that he has to do it to get cocoamone
C) He owns the puppies, so it's no one's business how he treats them
D) He tried other animals first, but had no luck getting cocoamone from them
E) He knows puppies don't have moral status because he is a philosopher

Question 13

Norcross argues that what Fred does would be fine if it were happening in South Korea, where they eat dogs. But it certainly isn't okay here.