Ashford 3 : – Week 2 – Quiz

 

               

 

 

 

Question 1. 1. What does Tom Regan say about the cruelty/kindness approach to animal ethics? (Points : 1)

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

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

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

       You have to be cruel to be kind, in the right measure

 

Question 2. 2. What does Peter Singer say about the history of liberation movements?  (Points : 1)

       They tend to become narrower in scope … zeroing in on the exact class that deserves moral consideration.

       They tend to become wider in scope … with people learning to apply moral principles to groups previously not considered.

       They tend to become more discriminatory … giving fewer and fewer rights to the less privileged.

       They tend to discover that the original concepts in the past were superior and it is a mistake to veer from traditional wisdom.

 

Question 3. 3. According to Tom Regan, which of the following should compel us to accept the equal rights of animals? (Points : 1)

       Sentiment – our feelings for the welfare of animals

       Law – legal regulations requiring us to respect the rights of animals

       Reason – this theory has the best reasons on its side

       Religion – the laws of God mandate human compassion

 

Question 4. 4. Which of the following makes it difficult to calculate the utility of an act (Points : 1)

       the time frame of the consequences

       disagreements about the meaning of pleasure or happiness

       determining what constitutes the greatest good

       all of the above

 

Question 5. 5. What does Singer say about other philosophers’ attempts to argue that only humans have moral worth? (Points : 1)

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

       That they all say that animals should have rights too

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

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

 

Question 6. 6. Peter Singer’s “basic principles of equality” applied to animals means: (Points : 1)

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

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

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

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

 

Question 7. 7. According to Mill, utilitarian morality holds that: (Points : 1)

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

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

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

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

 

Question 8. 8. What does Tom Regan say is the source of inherent value in an individual? (Points : 1)

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

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

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

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

 

Question 9. 9. 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” (Points : 1)

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

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

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

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

 

Question 10. 10. What is speciesism? (Points : 1)

       The view that all animals should be treated equally regardless of their abilities

       The view that endangered species have the right to exist

       Allowing the interests of one’s own species to override the greater interests of members of other species

       Protecting endangered species from extinction regardless of economic costs

 

Question 11. 11. What is the point of Regan’s discussion about Aunt Bea and utilitarianism’s respect for human life? (Points : 1)

       Utilitarianism feels that human life is paramount and not to be sacrificed under any circumstance

       Utilitarianism would say that God’s law that “thou shalt not kill” will have very few exceptions

       Utilitarianism says that human life has not much value at all, a person can be killed for relatively minor reasons, like stealing their money

       Because utilitarianism is aggregative, one individual’s right to life can be overridden in order to save many other people’s lives

 

Question 12. 12. What is Tom Regan’s main criticism of the contractarian approach to ethical duties? (Points : 1)

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

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

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

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

 

Question 13. 13. According to Tom Regan, what is fundamentally wrong with our current system? (Points : 1)

       It mistreats animals in captivity

       It does not adequately reduce the number of experiments to only what is medically necessary

       It treats animals as resources; as though they exist for us

       That it doesn’t utilize animals enough for beneficial purposes

 

Question 14. 14. According to John Stuart Mill, utilitarianism takes into account the happiness of: (Points : 1)

       only the agent.

       only the agent and those the agent cares about.

       everyone, but weights the happiness of the agent more heavily.

       everyone, and weights everyone’s happiness equally.

 

Question 15. 15. Which of the following does not happen to pigs on today’s factory farms in the “Meet Your Meat” video? (Points : 1)

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

       They are castrated and have tails chopped without pain killers

       They are slaughtered quickly and painlessly

       Many are quite conscious while being slaughtered

 

Question 16. 16. Which of the following does not describe how egg-laying hens are treated in factory farms? (Points : 1)

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

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

       They are starved into a period of ‘forced molting’

       They have their beaks painfully seared off

 

Question 17. 17. What is Tom Regan’s position about the use of animals in research and agriculture? (Points : 1)

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

       Animals should never be used for medical research or commercial agriculture

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

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

 

Question 18. 18. What is Peter Singer’s point about performing vivisection on mentally disabled human infants? (Points : 1)

       That if we say that it would be wrong to perform experiments on such humans but not on non-humans then we are showing bias based upon species alone

        That a good speciesist would not perform experiments on any being

       That we should test upon mentally disabled human infants because the results would be more reliable than tests on animals

       That anyone who would consider testing on a human infant is a monster

 

Question 19. 19. Which of the following statements is the strongest evidence that the person saying it is a utilitarian? (Points : 1)

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

       Helen: “I agree. It is always immoral to violate someone’s rights.”

       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.”

       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.”

 

Question 20. 20. According to Jeremy Bentham (as described by Singer) what should determine whether a being’s interests should be taken into account? (Points : 1)

       Whether they have the faculty of discourse

       Whether they can reason

       Whether they can suffer

       Whether they are capable of love