Deck 13: Animals

Question 1

Talk about:
-Battery cages

Answer 1

small wire cages housing chickens that can be lined up and stacked in a barn so that thousands of chickens can be stored in a very small space.

Question 2

Talk about:
-Ethical vegetarians

Answer 2

those who refrain from eating animals out of a moral concern for the rights or welfare of animals.

Question 3

Talk about:
-Factory farm

Answer 3

a large industrial complex where large volumes of animals are packed into a small space to make raising and slaughtering them (or collecting their eggs) maximally efficient.

Question 4

Talk about:
-Gestation crates

Question 5

Talk about:
-Sentience

Question 6

Talk about:
-Speciesism

Question 7

Talk about:
-Subjective experience

Question 8

Talk about:
-Vegans

Question 9

Talk about:
-Vegetarian

Question 10

A creature that is sentient is able to

A) respond to stimuli.
B) have sense experiences.
C) feel pleasure and pain.
D) Both b and c

Question 11

Speciesism is the view that humans, by virtue of _______ are more morally important than nonhuman animals.

A) some morally important feature
B) their species membership
C) being created in God's image
D) None of the above

Question 12

According to the Animals Kill Animals Argument,

A) if animals kill other animals, then it is morally OK for humans to kill animals.
B) animals kill other animals.
C) it is morally OK for humans to kill animals.
D) All of the above

Question 13

Which of the following arguments entails that it is generally morally wrong to kill animals?

A) The Dependency Argument
B) The Emotional Attachment Argument
C) The Argument from Marginal Cases
D) The Rights Argument

Question 14

Which of the following is not a criticism of the Animals Kill Animals Argument discussed in the text?

A) Nonhuman animals do not eat meat for gustatory pleasure.
B) Humans can survive perfectly well without killing other animals.
C) Nonhuman animals are not moral agents.
D) Most of the animals we eat do not kill other animals.

Question 15

Arguments in favor of meat-eating and animal experimentation almost always proceed from the assumption that

A) humans and nonhuman animals are equally morally important.
B) humans are more morally important than nonhuman animals.
C) humans are less morally important than nonhuman animals.
D) we cannot compare the moral importance of humans and nonhuman animals.

Question 16

According to the Power Argument, we

A) have the power to control animals because we are morally allowed to control them.
B) are morally allowed to control animals because we are physically stronger than them.
C) are morally allowed to control animals because we have the power to control them.
D) have the power to control animals because we are physically stronger than them.

Question 17

According to the text, the problem with the Power Argument is that it implies that we

A) are morally allowed to control other people.
B) are morally allowed to control other animals.
C) have the power to control other animals.
D) have the power to control other people.

Question 18

According to the Dependency Argument, humans have the right to treat farm and lab animals in any way that best suits their interests because

A) humans depend on these animals for research and sustenance.
B) humans and animals are mutually dependent.
C) these animals depend on humans for existence and sustenance.
D) All of the above

Question 19

One might object to the Dependency Argument on the grounds that

A) human babies are dependent on human adults, but we cannot treat them however we wish.
B) dependence alone does not provide grounds for justifying current farm and lab practices.
C) we cannot treat a creature however we wish just because it is dependent on us.
D) All of the above

Question 20

Which of the following is not an argument that justifies (some of) our current farm and lab practices?

A) The Emotional Attachment Argument
B) The Argument from Marginal Cases
C) The Power Argument
D) The Rights Argument

Question 21

Which of the following claims might be used to justify our current treatment of farm and lab animals?

A) Animals lack moral rights.
B) Animals are not moral agents.
C) Some humans lack moral rights.
D) Some humans are not moral agents.

Question 22

According to the Emotional Attachment Argument, we

A) feel greater emotional attachment to fellow human beings than to nonhuman animals.
B) are morally allowed to harm animals to promote human interests.
C) Both a and b
D) Neither a nor b

Question 23

One might object to the Emotional Attachment Argument on the grounds that

A) we are not always more emotionally attached to fellow humans than to nonhuman animals.
B) whether we are morally allowed to harm nonhuman animals does not depend on emotional attachment.
C) Both a and b
D) Neither a nor b

Question 24

According to the Rights Argument,

A) humans have moral rights.
B) animals lack moral rights.
C) humans are permitted to treat animals however we think best.
D) All of the above

Question 25

Some argue that moral rights require certain abilities that animals lack. Which of the following is not one of the relevant abilities discussed in the text?

A) The ability to enter into reciprocal agreements
B) The ability to feel pleasure and pain
C) The ability to plan for the future
D) The ability to stand up for oneself

Question 26

Which of the following is not discussed as a reason why some people think humans are more morally important than animals?

A) Humans can feel more pleasure and pain than animals.
B) Humans were endowed with greater moral importance by God.
C) Humans can self-govern and animals cannot.
D) Humans are more morally important just by virtue of our species.

Question 27

Singer links speciesism to racism and sexism on the grounds that all three give moral priority to one group over another on the basis of

A) moral rights.
B) morally irrelevant traits.
C) emotional attachment.
D) power.

Question 28

If the Argument from Marginal Cases is sound, then

A) all animals are as morally important as all humans.
B) some animals are more morally important than some humans.
C) some humans are more morally important than some animals.
D) some animals are as morally important as some humans.

Question 29

So-called "marginal" human beings are humans

A) who are incapable of feeling pleasure and pain.
B) to whom we lack emotional attachment.
C) whose mental lives are no more developed than those of nonhuman animals.
D) who are not powerful enough to control nonhuman animals.

Question 30

What do you think is the strongest argument for the conclusion that it is morally acceptable to kill and eat animals? Do you think this argument succeeds? Why or why not?

Question 31

Explain and discuss the Argument from Marginal Cases. Do you think this argument is sound? If not, why not? If so, what implications does this have for the ethics of meat-eating and lab experimentation? Defend your answers.

Question 32

Do you think humans are more morally important than nonhuman animals? Why or why not? Explain and discuss the implications of your answer for the ethics of meat-eating and lab experimentation.

Question 33

Explain and discuss the Rights Argument. Do you think animals have moral rights? Do you think humans have moral rights? If humans have rights that animals do not, what could explain this? Defend your answers.

Question 34

Are there morally relevant features that all humans have but nonhuman animals lack? If so, what are they? What implications does your answer have for how we morally ought to treat animals? Defend your answers.

Question 35

According to Singer, the basic principle of equality is equality of

A) rights.
B) treatment.
C) consideration.
D) liberty.

Question 36

Who does Singer cite as incorporating the essential basis of moral equality into his or her system of ethics?

A) Mill
B) Kant
C) Wollstonecraft
D) Bentham

Question 37

According to Singer, it is an implication of the principle of equality that our concern for others ought not to depend on

A) what they are like or what abilities they possess.
B) what they are like or whether they deserve equal consideration.
C) what abilities they possess or whether they deserve equal consideration.
D) whether they deserve equal consideration or equal rights.

Question 38

What, according to Singer, is a prerequisite for having any interests at all?

A) The capacity for reasoning
B) The capacity for suffering
C) The capacity for equal consideration
D) All of the above

Question 39

According to Singer, there can be no justification for refusing to take _______ into account.

A) rights
B) abilities
C) experiences
D) suffering

Question 40

Singer argues that a basic moral principle is the equal consideration of

A) suffering.
B) interests.
C) abilities.
D) rights.

Question 41

According to Singer, speciesism involves

A) failing to take the interests of members of other species into account.
B) taking the interests of other species to override the greater interests of one's own.
C) taking the interests of one's own species to override the greater interests of other species.
D) failing to take the interests of other people into account.

Question 42

According to Singer, which of the following is a form of speciesism in our society?

A) Killing and eating animals
B) Experimenting on animals
C) Our philosophical views about animals
D) All of the above

Question 43

Singer thinks it is _______ to find some relevant characteristic that distinguishes all humans from all members of other species.

A) possible
B) impossible
C) unlikely
D) easy

Question 44

Singer argues that any difference between humans and animals that justifies meat-eating and animal experimentation also justifies

A) killing and experimenting on some humans.
B) keeping animals as pets.
C) ignoring the interests of animals.
D) speciesism.

Question 45

Explain and discuss Singer's claim that speciesism is morally wrong in the same ways as racism and sexism. Do you agree with this claim? Why or why not?

Question 46

Singer argues that there is no characteristic that could justify taking the interests of all humans to override the interests of other animals. Do you agree with this claim? What do you think is the best candidate for such a characteristic, and why is it adequate or inadequate? Defend your answers.

Question 47

Singer argues that if killing, eating, and experimenting on animals is morally acceptable, then so is killing, eating, and experimenting on infants or the severely brain damaged. Assess this argument. Do you think Singer is right about this? What implications does your answer have for the ethics of meat-eating and animal experimentation?

Question 48

Hursthouse approaches the treatment of animals from the moral perspective of

A) Aquinas.
B) Aristotle.
C) Kant.
D) Mill.

Question 49

According to Hursthouse, possession of the virtues is what

A) makes an agent morally good.
B) enables their possessor to act well.
C) makes an agent someone who reliably does what is right.
D) All of the above

Question 50

According to Hursthouse, _______ is a better translation of the Greek word arête than virtue.

A) temperance
B) prudence
C) excellence
D) knowledge

Question 51

Hursthouse argues that a virtuous person would not be party to commercial farming practices because such practices

A) cause unnecessary suffering.
B) are wasteful.
C) are cruel.
D) All of the above

Question 52

According to Hursthouse, regularly eating commercially farmed meat is contrary to the virtue of

A) justice.
B) compassion.
C) generosity.
D) courage.

Question 53

People in full possession of the virtue of _______ will experience no inner conflict as a result of abstaining from meat consumption.

A) temperance
B) compassion
C) respect
D) love

Question 54

According to Hursthouse, which of the following actions is consistent with virtue ethics?

A) Regularly eating commercially farmed meat
B) Regularly eating fish captured by bottom trawling
C) Eating meat when it is necessary for survival
D) None of the above

Question 55

For virtue ethics, the issue of animal experimentation differs from that of vegetarianism because

A) animal experimentation does not cause unnecessary suffering.
B) the question of abstaining from experimentation does not arise for most people.
C) animal experimentation involves a conflict between virtues.
D) the animal suffering caused by experimentation is suitably proportionate to the good produced for humans.

Question 56

What does Hursthouse suggest ordinary people of virtue can do in recognition of the cruelty of most animal experimentation?

A) Sign petitions and join pressure groups
B) Engage in civil disobedience
C) Refuse all benefits of modern medicine
D) All of the above

Question 57

Hursthouse claims that using moral status as an evaluative concept in arguments about the treatment of animals is

A) a helpful compliment to considerations of virtue.
B) essential.
C) irrelevant.
D) counter-productive.

Question 58

According to Hursthouse, a virtue is a morally good, admirable, or praiseworthy character trait. However, many virtue words, such as courage or compassion, can be used in ordinary language to pick out a character trait that enables or prompts its possessor to act wrongly. How does Hursthouse explain this apparent discrepancy? Is her explanation convincing? Why or why not?

Question 59

Hursthouse claims that it is wrong to eat commercially farmed meat regularly. How does she reach this conclusion? Are you persuaded by her reasoning? Why or why not?

Question 60

Why does Hursthouse think that experimentation on nonhuman animals is a more complicated moral issue than vegetarianism? Do you agree? Why or why not?

Question 61

According to Gruen, those who believe that animal experimentation has led to benefits tend to appeal to a _______ framework to justify the use of animals.

A) natural law
B) virtue ethics
C) Kantian
D) consequentialist

Question 62

According to the non-speciesist utilitarian test (NSUT), an experiment on a nonhuman animal is justified

A) if and only if it generates more benefit than harm on balance than all other options.
B) if and only if equal interests are considered equally no matter who has them.
C) if and only if it generates more benefit than harm on balance than all other options and equal interests are considered equally.
D) under no conditions whatsoever.

Question 63

What is one of the objections to utilitarian justifications of animal experimentation that Gruen considers?

A) The rights objection
B) The incommensurability objection
C) The marginal cases objection
D) The demandingness objection

Question 64

What does the epistemic objection claim?

A) It is impossible to know whether an animal experiences pain.
B) It it is difficult to know whether an experiment will yield greater benefits than harms.
C) There is no meaningful way to compare one person's pleasures to the pain experienced by another person or animal.
D) Both a and b

Question 65

The abolitionist position holds that

A) it is wrong to use another individual as a means to one's own ends.
B) animal experimentation provides no human benefits.
C) animal lives are of instrumental value only.
D) All of the above

Question 66

On which of the following do utilitarians and abolitionists agree?

A) Animals have lives that can go better or worse for them.
B) Animals should not suffer unnecessarily.
C) Animals deserve to have their interests taken into consideration.
D) All of the above

Question 67

On which of the following do utilitarians and abolitionists disagree?

A) Animal experiments are not always justified.
B) Animals should not suffer unnecessarily.
C) It is never appropriate to use another individual as a means to one's own ends.
D) All of the above

Question 68

According to abolitionists, experimentation on animals is always immoral whereas experimentation on humans is not because

A) animals suffer much more than humans.
B) human experiments yield much greater benefits.
C) animals have no instrumental value.
D) animals cannot give their consent.

Question 69

According to abolitionists, experimentation on animals runs counter to the general moral presumption that

A) causing suffering is always wrong.
B) one should never be morally required to suffer for another, particularly if that suffering involves extreme sacrifice.
C) animal lives have intrinsic value.
D) cost-benefit analysis is irrelevant to moral decision-making.

Question 70

Why does Gruen ultimately conclude that it is ethically reasonable to oppose animal experimentation?

A) Because of the practical difficulties with the utilitarian position
B) Because of the strength of the abolitionist arguments
C) Because animal experimentation yields no morally worthwhile benefits
D) Both a and b

Question 71

Explain what Gruen calls the "non-speciesist utilitarian test," or NSUT for short. Is this a plausible test for determining when an experiment on a nonhuman animal is justified in your view? Why or why not?

Question 72

What are the two main objections to utilitarian justifications of animal experimentation? Are these objections decisive in your view? Why or why not?

Question 73

How does the abolitionist argument against animal experimentation differ from the argument given by Hursthouse? Which argument is more compelling in your view? Defend your answer.

Question 74

In Norcross's opening story, Fred tortures puppies because

A) he enjoys it.
B) it gives him a compound that is good for his health.
C) it gives him a compound that enhances his gustatory pleasure.
D) All of the above

Question 75

The argument from Marginal Cases claims that

A) some animals have rational capacities to the degree that some humans do.
B) animals have no rights.
C) humans and animals have equal rights.
D) animals have traditionally occupied a marginal place in society, which is unjust.

Question 76

According to Norcross, most (and perhaps all) nonhuman animals are

A) moral agents but not moral patients.
B) moral patients but not moral agents.
C) both moral agents and moral patients.
D) neither moral agents nor moral patients.

Question 77

Norcross concludes that

A) eating meat from factory farms is morally unproblematic.
B) giving up eating meat from factory farms is morally admirable but not morally required.
C) eating meat from factory farms is morally impermissible.
D) None of the above

Question 78

According to Norcross, why can't the claim of causal impotence justify eating factory-farmed meat?

A) Given the amount of suffering caused by factory farming, we're obligated to try to prevent it even if the chance of doing so is tiny.
B) Even if our action alone has no effect, the actions of those we influence might.
C) A morally decent person would not eat factory-farmed meat even if his or her inaction would have no effect.
D) All of the above

Question 79

According to Norcross, which of the following justifies granting humans and animals different moral statuses?

A) Human beings are typically more rational than animals.
B) Human beings typically experience a wider range of pleasure and suffering than animals.
C) Human beings are typically more self-aware than animals.
D) None of the above

Question 80

What widespread practice does Norcross argue is morally equivalent to Fred's torture of puppies?

A) Dog fighting
B) Keeping animals in zoos
C) Eating factory-farmed meat
D) Medical research