PHI 208 week 2 Quiz 1 (all correct)

Question 1.                        The philosopher John Stuart Mill recognized the following as a potential problem for utilitarianism

                                                 It holds people to standards that are too high.

                                                 It may lead to increased liberty and justice.

                                                 It may result in a tyranny of the majority

                                                 It may lead people to think independently of religious authority. 

Question 2.                        What, according to Tom Regan, is the contractarian approach to ethics?

The view that individuals have rights because of a set of rules that they agree to follow, as with agreeing to the terms of a contract

  The view that all animals have rights because of the agreements that we have made (or should make) with them

  The view that what is morally relevant is the pain and suffering that an animal endures when we mistreat it

The view that all humans have equal rights independent of particular abilities

Question 3.                        According to the video “Meet Your Meat”, which of the following is not

true of how animals are slaughtered on factory farms

They are driven in extreme weather conditions without food or water

  They are often still conscious while being slaughtered

 They are often roughly handled and severely injured by the time they make it to slaughter

They are ensured every means of avoiding fear and stress during the slaughtering process.

Question 4.                        Which of the following does not describe how egg-laying hens are treated in factory farms?

  They are allowed to scratch through dirt and grass looking for seeds and bugs in the fresh open air.

  They are kept in such tight confinement that they cannot lift their wings

  They are starved into a period of ‘forced molting’

  They have their beaks painfully seared off

Question 5.                        How do we determine the difference between higher and lower pleasures, according to Mill?

                                                 The relative duration and intensity.

                                                 The preference of those who are acquainted with both.

                                                 The amount of happiness they produce on average.

                                                 We can’t, since there is no difference between pleasures. 

Question 6.                        What moral theory does Jeremy Bentham (with whom Singer seems to agree) endorse?

                                                 Moral relativism

                                                 Anarchism

                                                 Utilitarianism

                                                 Social Contract Theory

Question 7.                        Which of the following does Tom Regan say about the utilitarian approach to animal ethics?

It is inadequate because it does not give value to individuals but only to their feelings

  It is perfect because it does not allow for discrimination based upon morally irrelevant attributes like race or species

  It is wrong because it treats human suffering as more important than animal suffering

It ignores everything that does not have enough ‘utility’ and therefore does not take into account important things that it does not consider ‘useful’

 Question 8.                       What happens to the offspring of dairy cows, according to the video “Meet Your Meat”?

                                                 They are taken away at a young age

                                                 They stay with their mothers until a healthy age

                                                 They are placed in animal sanctuaries

                                                 They go to pasture to become breeders

Question 9.                        Utilitarianism is a form of what broader kind of ethical theory?

                                                 deontological

                                                 consequentialist

                                                 trolly problematic

                                                 egoistical

Question 10.                      Which of the following does not happen in the “Meet Your Meat” to animals with diseases or injuries on modern factory farms:

                                                 The meat is allowed to be “USDA pure”

                                                 They are killed for growing too slowly

                                                 They are generally given immediate veterinary attention

                                                 They are taken to slaughter anyway

 Question 11.                     What is the point of Regan’s discussion about Aunt Bea and utilitarianism’s respect for human life?

Utilitarianism feels that human life is paramount and not to be sacrificed under any circumstance

  Utilitarianism would say that God’s law that “thou shalt not kill” will have very few exceptions

  Utilitarianism says that human life has not much value at all, a person can be killed for relatively minor reasons, like stealing their money

  Because utilitarianism is aggregative, one individual’s right to life can be overridden in order to save many other people’s lives

Question 12.      When faced with the complaint that utilitarianism is a doctrine worthy of pigs, Mill responds that pleasures differ in:

                                                 purity.

                                                 quality.

                                                 species.

                                                 weight.

Question 13.                      According to Mill, utilitarian morality holds that:

If each individual strives to maximize their own happiness, the happiness of all will follow.

  Each individual is required to sacrifice their own individual happiness for the happiness of all.

  With the right social arrangements and education, individuals can come to associate their own individual happiness with the happiness of all.

 Neither the happiness of the individual nor the happiness of all is worth pursuing, since neither is attainable in this life. 

Question 14.                      What does Tom Regan say is the source of inherent value in an individual?

Individuals have equal inherent value by virtue of being experiencing subjects of a life, i.e. conscious beings whose lives matter to them

                                                 We have equal inherent value if we are able to experience pain and pleasure, suffering and misery

                                                 We do not all have inherent value; only those that live and abide by moral principles have inherent worth

                                                 Different societies have different views about what is right and wrong, so the ‘inherent value’ of individuals is relative

Question 15.                      Which of the following does Peter Singer assert about the principle of equality?

                                                 People should have equal rights because they are factually equal.

                                                 People with higher abilities, it stands to reason, should have greater rights.

                                                 Different groups of humans should have equal rights if scientific investigation proves that there are no genetic differences in their abilities.

                                                 It is a prescription that we should treat people equally regardless of their differing abilities.

Question 16.                      Tom Regan’s view of animals is that

                                                 They are important but not quite as important as human beings

                                                 They have rights, which means that they should never be used for human purposes

                                                 They may be ethically used because they were bred and raised for that purpose

                                                 That they may be eaten because do not have souls like we do and are lower on the food chain

Question 17.                      Which of the following makes it difficult to calculate the utility of an act

                                                 the time frame of the consequences

                                                 disagreements about the meaning of pleasure or happiness

                                                 determining what constitutes the greatest good

                                                 all of the above

Question 18.                      What does Singer say about finding the basis for moral duties in the “intrinsic dignity” of humanity?

                                                 That God ordained humanity to be the top of the “great chain of being”

                                                 That mankind is the most important species because it is the most intelligent

                                                 That dolphins have actually been shown to be more intelligent than humans in many respects

                                                 That such fine phrases are a last resort for philosophers who cannot find a distinction that gives humans worth while denying it to all other species

Question 19.                      What does Tom Regan say about the cruelty/kindness approach to animal ethics?

                                                 The best way to explain animal ethics is in terms of our obligation to be kind and not cruel to animals

                                                 It is inadequate because it is possible to do wrong while being kind, and it is possible to do wrong without being deliberately cruel

                                                 It has no relevance to animal ethics because animals are cruel to each other

                                                 You have to be cruel to be kind, in the right measure

Question 20.                      According to Tom Regan, which of the following should compel us to accept the equal rights of animals?

                                                 Sentiment – our feelings for the welfare of animals

                                                 Law – legal regulations requiring us to respect the rights of animals

                                                 Reason – this theory has the best reasons on its side

                                                 Religion – the laws of God mandate human compassion