Review for test #1

Details about the test:

• Location: 518 Southam Hall
• Day & time: Wednesday July 16, 6:05—7:15pm
• Remember to arrive a few minutes early to drop your bags/books near the front
• Test will finish at 7:15 – so you’ll have over 60 min. writing time. We’ll begin our second-half lecture on ‘utilitarianism’ @ 7:30pm.

The following readings ARE covered on this test:

• Fox, “Arguments for Vegetarianism”
• Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant”
• Book of Genesis
• Aquinas, from Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica

Below are some suggestions for preparation. The first section of the review contains concepts, definitions, etc. from lectures and readings. The second includes short-answer questions where you can practice choosing your language carefully and developing clear arguments. The test has two sections: Part 1 includes multiple choice questions; Part 2 contains short answer questions.

Questions appearing on the test are not necessarily covered below.

Concepts & definitions:

• Human health argument
• Animal suffering argument
• Environmental damage argument
• Global injustice argument
• Anthropocentric perspective
• Bio-centric perspective
• Eco-centric perspective
• Political ecology
• Moral claims
• Factual claims
• Firm obligations
• Personal virtues
• Intrinsic value
• Instrumental value
• Holistic perspective
• Atomistic perspective
• Moral agent
• Moral standing
• Animal rights
• Attributes of philosophy
• Attributes of ethics

Questions on readings:

(you might approach these as “15-minute essays”)

How do you define “environmental ethics”?

What are factual claims? What’s the easiest way to identify a factual claim?

What are moral claims? How would you go about identifying a moral claim?

How do we define moral agency?

How do we define moral standing?

Why is it important to distinguish moral from factual claims?

What is ‘intrinsic value’? What has intrinsic value?

What is ‘instrumental value’? What has instrumental value?

How does the instrumental/intrinsic distinction relate to concepts like anthropocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism?

Identify the factual claims that are part of Fox’s point of view. How much of his pro-vegetarian stance depends on these claims? Does Fox provide quality factual support?

What do we mean when we say a theory is “anthropocentric”, “biocentric”, or “ecocentric”?

Name and briefly explain (in a few paragraphs) Michael Fox’s four “mutually reinforcing” arguments for vegetarianism?

At the end of the day, does Fox’s pro-vegetarian standpoint achieve what we called in class a “firm obligation”, or merely a “personal virtue”? (it may be useful to answer this question by selecting one argument out of the four that best clarifies your point)

What are some of the environmental issues that arise in the Genesis creation story?

What type of environmental perspective do you think Genesis ultimately rests on?

Does the Genesis myth have genuine modern relevance? That is, does this ancient myth have any connection to today’s views on environmental ethics?

Can human beings be ‘friends’ to non-human animals? Why would Aquinas think this question is significant? (in answering this question you may want to be explicit about the idea of friendship you’re working with)

How does Aquinas go about arguing that humans have a duty not to be cruel to animals?

Is there a difference between ‘dominion’ and ‘stewardship’? Which is more closely relation to notion of “natural hierarchy”?

In your own words, state clearly whether you think Christianity makes a positive or a negative contribution to the relationship between humans and the natural world.

In your own words, explain which type of value you think Orwell primarily has in mind as he decides whether to shoot the elephant.