Ethics question case study

Environmental Ethics Case Studies Review: Comparative Method in Mill and Kant Utilitarian Plan 1 Identify all course of action open to you/nation 2 Identify who is affected by the actions 3 Identify the amount of happiness and pain for each party involved 4 Total it up and to see how much happiness is created - aggregate 5 Choose the action most likely to maximize overall happiness Kantian Plan 1- If you were to universalize the action, and the outcome is self-replicating – healthy, stable, sustainable – then it is a good/right/ just/moral action 2- If you treat all people with dignity and not merely as a means to an end, then the action is a good/moral/right/just one 3- If you have future generations in mind - their stability, self-replication , health - then it is a good action.

Case Studies II

1- Gorilla Rangers http://gorillacd.org/

Small Group Discussion ( Be polite but have a healthy argument)

a) Central Points? b) What’s the right thing to do? c) What is the basis (the operative theory) for your argument?

To what length should the non-African world go to maintain the integrity of the subspecies? How much $? How much force/political interference/war? What about the poverty of the people in and around the area? Think Kant and Mill: WWMS vs WWKS

2- Great Ape Declaration Small Group Discussion ( Be polite but have a healthy argument)

a) Central Points? b) What’s the right thing to do? c) What is the basis (the operative theory) for your argument?

http://www.greatapeproject.org/en-US/oprojetogap/Declaracao/declaracao-mundial-dos- grandes-primatas 1. Right to life The lives of all great primates must be protected. The individuals can not be killed, with exception for extremely specific situations, such as self-defense. 2. Individual freedom protection Great primates cannot be deprived, in an arbitrary way, from their freedom. They have the right to live in their habitat. Great primates who live in captivity have the right to live with dignity, in large rooms, to

have contact with others of their species to form families and must be protected from commercial exploitation. 3. Prohibition of torture Intentional imposition of intense pain, physically or psychologically, to a great primate, with no reason or to other’s benefits, is considered a kind of torture and is an offense from which they must be protected. Good idea or not? Is the declaration grounded in a sound ethics? Why? Why not? Do Gorillas and other apes count in the “greater good”? Can we extend Categorical Imperative # 2 and # 3 to Apes? What about # 1? As long as some people – my people are okay – it is okay to let others starve. What if those others are apes? III The Morality of Animals https://www.ted.com/talks/frans_de_waal_do_animals_have_morals IV The Intelligence of Kanzi the Bonobo

Kanzi at the lexigram : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRM7vTrIIis

Kanzi understanding novel sentences https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dhc2zePJFE

Kanzi makes Camp Fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMbWDRzqNhc&NR=1&feature=endscreen