The PHIL 2380 final exam will take place on Saturday, August 16th @ 2pm in 208 Tory Building (2nd and 3rd levels).
The exam will have three sections:
PART A (multiple choice)
PART B (short answers)
PART C (essay questions)
Material covered on the exam is drawn from readings and lectures. The following readings ARE covered:
- Fox, “Arguments for Vegetarianism”
- Orwell, “Shooting an Elephant”
- St. Thomas Aquinas, from Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica
- Locke, “The Creation of Property”
- Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons”
- Desjardins, “Ethical Theory and the Environment”
- Singer, “All Animals are Equal”
- Kant, “Duties to Animals”
- Regan, “The Case for Animal Rights”
- Taylor, “The Ethics of Respect for Nature”
- Leopold, “The Land Ethic: Conservation as a Moral Issue”
- Devall & Sessions, “Deep Ecology”
- Wouter Achterberg, “Sustainability, Community and Democracy”
- Neil Carter, “Worker Co-operatives and Green Political Theory”
- Warren, “The Power and Promise of Ecological Feminism”
- Bookchin, “What is Social Ecology?”
Your guide to exam preparation is below. The first part of the guide contains concepts, definitions, etc. drawn from lectures and readings. The second includes short-answer-type questions about: i) general course themes; ii) ethical theories, and; iii) specific readings. The third section includes a series of sample essay questions. As with previous tests, you may benefit by using these questions as practice for putting forward clear arguments while using language carefully and concisely.
**Be aware that questions below are not organized in a particular order, and some questions on the final exam may not be mentioned in the review suggestions below.
Concepts & definitions:
Sentience
Subject-of-a-life
Human health argument
Animal suffering argument
Environmental damage argument
Social injustice argument
Eco-sabotage
Ecofeminism
Extensionism
Logic of domination
Patriarchy
Hierarchy
Social ecology
Political ecology
Anthropocentrism/anthropocentric perspective
Bio-centric perspective
Eco-centric perspective
Moral claims
Factual claims
John Locke
Locke’s proviso
The Tragedy of the Commons argument
Immanuel Kant
Kant's maxims
Jeremy Bentham
John Stuart Mill
Paul Taylor
Peter Singer
Tom Regan
Bentham's dictum
The utilitarian principle
The categorical imperative
Hypothetical imperative
Ends and means
Aunt Bea
Moral agent
Moral standing
Sentience
Speciesism
Ethical theory
The story of Mathew Donnelly
J.S. Mill's basic utilitarian argument
Legal rights
Moral rights
Universal human rights
Deontological ethics
Justification
The social contract
Belief system
The bio-centric outlook on nature
Ultimate moral attitude
Respect for nature
Set of rules of duty
Non-malificience
Non-interference
Fidelity
Restitutive justice
Dominion
Stewardship
Atomism
Holism
Speciesism
Ecosophy
Firm obligations
Personal virtues
Intrinsic value
Instrumental value
Animal rights
The attributes of philosophy
The attributes of ethics
Environmental ethics
Balance of nature
Biotic pyramid
Self-realization
Bioregionalism
Biotic pyramid
Biocentric egalitarianism
Energy circuit
Equilibrium
The "dominant worldview"
Land preservation
Resource depletion
Waste disposal
Species extinction
Habitat destruction
Self-ownership
Labour-mixing
Value-adding
Consequences/consequentialism
Happiness/well-being
Moral equality
Short Answer Questions:
How do you define environmental ethics?
What are factual claims?
What are moral claims?
What is intrinsic value? What has intrinsic value?
What is instrumental value? What has instrumental value?
How do these two terms come into play?
How has the green movement contributed to the field of environmental ethics?
What contribution has the science of ecology made to environmental ethics?
What do we mean when we say a theory is "anthropocentric", "biocentric", or "ecocentric"?
What values are at stake when we talk about animal rights?
Explain some of the problems associated with extensionism.
How do we define "moral agency" versus "moral standing"? How does this distinction allow us to understand concepts like anthropocentrism, biocentrism, utilitarianism?
Questions on ethical theories:
How do you define: a) utilitarianism; b) rights-based ethics; c) virtue ethics?
What are the key differences between these approaches?
What are their components and basic terms of each approach?
What is meant by "ends" and "means"?
What does Kant mean when he refers to "the moral law"?
How does ends/means thinking connect to arguments supporting rights?
What is the significance of Regan's "Aunt Bea" example?
What are rights? What is the relationship between rights and duties?
Select one of the modern examples of virtue ethics (care ethics, College of Physicians & Surgeons, student codes of ethics), and explain in your own words how this approach could conflict with utilitarian or deontological ethical approaches.
What are the three elements of utilitarian theory?
Which ethical theory do you consider the most persuasive: Rights-based ethics? Utilitarian ethics? Virtue ethics? Give one or more examples that explain your position.
What are the limitations of each of our three major ethical theories?
Are consequences all that matter? What about personal responsibility? What about rights and duties?
Is happiness all that matters?
Is moral equality too strict?
Questions on readings:
Describe and evaluate Fox's four arguments in support of vegetarianism.
Identify the factual claims that are part of Fox’s argument. How much of the pro-vegetarian stance depends on these claims?
Does Fox provide quality factual support?
What is Locke's argument about the legitimate acquisition of private property?
How does Locke's argument become relevant in the debate about environmental ethics
How does the concept of "teleological centre of life" play a part in Taylor's argument?
One way to look at Singer's argument is to say that Singer is attempting to "shift the burden of proof" in the debate about environmental ethics. What is meant by this statement? How does the notion of burden of proof enter the argument?
Re-state the basic points in Singer’s argument.
Briefly explain Tom Regan’s argument for animal rights.
What criterion does Regan use to decide which animals get rights and which don’t?
Compare the criterion of moral standing used by Regan to that used by Singer.
Is there a parallel between speciesism and sexism/racism?
In your own words, state whether or not Peter Singer's argument is anthropocentric.
What is labour-mixing?
Is Singer an advocate of animal rights?
What is the moral claim that underpins Hardin’s argument?
How do Locke's property rights argument and Hardin's tragedy of the commons argument relate to environmental issues?
Identify two moral claims associated with Locke's argument.
Re-state Locke's argument about the legitimate acquisition of private property.
What relevance does Locke's argument have for debates about environmental ethics?
In your own words, explain Hardin's tragedy of the commons story, and explain why you do or don’t think Hardin's conclusions are applicable to issues like resource depletion.
Identify the factual claims that are part of the force behind Hardin's argument.
What is wrong with the tragedy of the commons argument?
Using concepts we’ve looked at in class (e.g. anthropocentrism/biocentrism, extensionism, atomism/holism), how would you characterize Taylor’s position?
Explain Taylor’s theory of “Respect for Nature”Explain Taylor's three-step theory of environmental ethics.What duties are mandated by Taylor's theory?
Why does Singer think that speciesism is morally unacceptable?
Re-state the basic points in Singer's argument.
Briefly explain Regan's argument in favour of animal rights.What is the criterion Regan uses to decide which animals get rights and which don't?
Compare the criterion of moral standing used by Regan to that of Singer.
What are some of the arguments that can be put forward in favour of vegetarian dietary choices. How would you respond to these arguments?
How does eco-sabotage, as discussed by Foreman, enter into debates about environmental ethics?
Which of our environmental theories is it a significant problem for?
Explain and give examples of the dominant worldview described by deep ecology.
What role does the concept of "self-realization" play in the arguments of Taylor and/or other authors we have examined?
What are the differences between St. Thomas Aquinas's and Bookshin's use of the notion of hierarchy?
Outline the argument often made by ecofeminists about patriarchy in contemporary society. How does this relate to environmental issues.
What argument made by Bookshin in support of social ecology?
Do these arguments convince you that radical environmentalism is justifiable?
Explain why St. Thomas Aquinas, Locke, and Kant can be called "anthropocentrists".
Name and briefly explain (in a few paragraphs) Michael Fox’s four “mutually reinforcing” arguments for vegetarianism?
Does Fox’s argument lead to what we called in class a “firm obligation”, or merely a “personal virtue”?
What are some of the environmental issues that arise in the Genesis creation story?
What type of environmental perspective do you think Genesis ultimately rest on?
Can human beings be friends to non-human animals? Why does Aquinas think this question is important?
How does Aquinas go about arguing that humans should not be cruel to non-humans?
Is there a difference between dominion and stewardship? Which is related to the idea of natural hierarchy?
How is the notion of equilibrium integrated into the theory of Aldo Leopold?
How do deep ecologists make use of the idea of interconnectedness?
How does Murray Bookchin explain the roots/solutions of our ecological crisis?
Explain some problems/criticisms associated with Bookchin's social ecology.
What, according to Peter Singer, is the relationship between speciesism and sexism/racism?
Explain the major differences between deep and shallow ecologists.
What are the ultimate norms of deep ecology? How do these norms justify the deep ecology platform?
Explain the differences between the four major positions we have concentrated on; anthropocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism and political ecology.
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 while he decides to shoot the elephant.
Sample Essay questions:
Outline Paul Taylor's biocentric theory and Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic. Identify some similarities, and outline some important differences.
Select one moral argument that supports anthropocentric ways of thinking and clearly explain its strengths and weaknesses. Explain why the moral argument you've selected is ultimately either convincing or unconvincing.
Clearly state the ultimate norms of deep ecology, and explain how these norms contribute to the deep ecology platform.
Explain Bookchin's argument for social ecology by looking at his notions of first and second nature, his idea of the "grow or die" economic paradigm, and his recommendations for an ecologically sustainable society.
How does Singer make use of utilitarianism in designing his moral argument?
Explain the idea of "logic of domination".
What does an author mean when he or she invokes the term "biocentric equality"? Give some examples and discuss some of the key implications and limitations.
Explain the major differences between deep ecology, ecofeminism and social ecology.
How does the Genesis story relate to issues in environmental ethics? In other words, what lessons does the Genesis story teach us, and what potential environmental concerns of an ethical nature does it raise?
Good Luck!
