Questions

 1.

Question :

Utilitarianism is a form of what broader kind of ethical theory?

Student Answer:

[removed] deontological

[removed] consequentialist

[removed] trolly problematic

[removed] egoistical

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found in section 2.1 of Understanding Philosophy

Question 2.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

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

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

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

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

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 6 of Tom Regan’s “The Case for Animal Rights”

Question 3.

Question :

What does Singer say about other philosophers’ attempts to argue that only humans have moral worth?

Student Answer:

[removed] That they give a good way to determine who has rights in a way that includes all humans and no animals

[removed] That they all say that animals should have rights too

[removed] That they come up with unjustified methods to include all humans while excluding all animals from moral consideration

[removed] That animals do not have rights because they are not as smart as humans are

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 7 of Peter Singer’s “All Animals are Equal.”

Question 4.

Question :

Which of the following statements is the strongest evidence that the person saying it is a utilitarian?

Student Answer:

[removed] Ginny: “Violations of rights are very serious, from the moral point of view.”

[removed] Helen: “I agree. It is always immoral to violate someone's rights.”

[removed] Ginny: “Well, I wouldn’t say ‘always’. It’s o.k. to violate rights whenever the good you can produce by doing so outweighs the harm you do by violating the person’s rights.”

[removed] Kate: “I disagree with both of you. The notion of rights is just a mechanism for the lesser members of society to maintain control over those capable of greatness.”

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found in section 2.1 of Understanding Philosophy and in Mill’s Utilitarianism. 

Question 5.

Question :

What is Tom Regan’s main criticism of the contractarian approach to ethical duties?

Student Answer:

[removed] It works fine for humans without problems, but it has not yet been applied to animals

[removed] It ignores the importance of pain and suffering when it comes to ethics

[removed] It would allow all kinds of human injustice if a stronger group is able to oppress the members of a weaker group of people

[removed] He does not criticize it; he things that contractarianism, if properly understood, represents the most rational approach to ethical problems

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 2-3 of Tom Regan’s “The Case for Animal Rights”

Question 6.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

[removed] the time frame of the consequences

[removed] disagreements about the meaning of pleasure or happiness

[removed] determining what constitutes the greatest good

[removed] all of the above

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found in section 2.1 of Understanding Philosophy

Question 7.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

[removed] People should have equal rights because they are factually equal.

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

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

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

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 2-3 of Peter Singer’s “All Animals are Equal.”

Question 8.

Question :

Which of the following does not happen to pigs on today’s factory farms in the “Meet Your Meat” video?

Student Answer:

[removed] They are raised in extreme confinement so dense that they can’t turn around

[removed] They are castrated and have tails chopped without pain killers

[removed] They are slaughtered quickly and painlessly

[removed] Many are quite conscious while being slaughtered

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found at 8:00-12:00 in the video “Meet Your Meat”

Question 9.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

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

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

[removed] They are starved into a period of ‘forced molting’

[removed] They have their beaks painfully seared off

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found at 2:28 in the video “Meet Your Meat”

Question 10.

Question :

According to Mill, utilitarian morality holds that:

Student Answer:

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

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

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

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

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found in John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism, p. 12.

Question 11.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

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

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

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

[removed] You have to be cruel to be kind, in the right measure

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 4 of Tom Regan’s “The Case for Animal Rights”

Question 12.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

[removed] The meat is allowed to be “USDA pure”

[removed] They are killed for growing too slowly

[removed] They are generally given immediate veterinary attention

[removed] They are taken to slaughter anyway

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found at 4:35, 5:25, 5:58, and 9:34 in the video “Meet Your Meat”

Question 13.

Question :

According to John Stuart Mill, utilitarianism takes into account the happiness of:

Student Answer:

[removed] only the agent.

[removed] only the agent and those the agent cares about.

[removed] everyone, but weights the happiness of the agent more heavily.

[removed] everyone, and weights everyone’s happiness equally.

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found in John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism, p. 12.

Question 14.

Question :

Which of the following does not describe the ways that chickens and turkeys are treated on factory farms, according to the video “Meet Your Meat”

Student Answer:

[removed] They are raised in their own excrement among corpses of other birds

[removed] Some are so crippled from unnatural growth that they are unable to move

[removed] They are given ample space to roam and to express their own natural behavior.

[removed] They are often beaten with metal rods, which is considered legal by the industry

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found at 0:43 in the video “Meet Your Meat”

Question 15.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

[removed] It holds people to standards that are too high.

[removed] It may lead to increased liberty and justice.

[removed] It may result in a tyranny of the majority

[removed] It may lead people to think independently of religious authority. 

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found in section 2.1 of Understanding Philosophy

Question 16.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

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

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

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

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

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 4-5 of Tom Regan’s “The Case for Animal Rights”

Question 17.

Question :

Peter Singer’s “basic principles of equality” applied to animals means:

Student Answer:

[removed] Animals should be given all the same rights as human beings.

[removed] Animals are not entitled to not all the same rights but to an equal consideration of interests.

[removed] Animals should not be given the same moral consideration because they are do not have the same power to reason as humans.

[removed] Animals do not have rights unless they can demonstrate the same abilities as humans.

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 4 of Peter Singer’s “All Animals are Equal.”

Question 18.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

[removed] purity.

[removed] quality.

[removed] species.

[removed] weight.

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found in John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism, pp. 5-6.

Question 19.

Question :

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

Student Answer:

[removed] Moral relativism

[removed] Anarchism

[removed] Utilitarianism

[removed] Social Contract Theory

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 3 of Peter Singer’s “All Animals are Equal.”

Question 20.

Question :

What is Tom Regan’s position about the use of animals in research and agriculture?

Student Answer:

[removed] Animals should be used whenever it can be proven that the human benefits outweigh the harms caused to the animals

[removed] Animals should never be used for medical research or commercial agriculture

[removed] Animals should only be used for medical research shown to be beneficial to humanity, never for agriculture

[removed] Animals should be used in both medical research and agriculture but should be treated as humanely as possible

Instructor Explanation:

The answer can be found on p. 7-8 of Tom Regan’s “The Case for Animal Rights”