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Edexcel A Level Ethics - Applied > Environmental Issues > Flashcards

Environmental Issues Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 4 key proponents of environmental issues?

A

Sustainability, Waste management, Climate Change and Animal welfare and protection

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2
Q

What does stewardship mean?

A

Supervising / taking care - of the environment

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3
Q

What does dominion mean?

A

Power for the benefit of humans

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4
Q

What does anthropocentric mean?

A

Humankind as the most important element of existence

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5
Q

What does speciesism mean?

A

Human superiority leads to the exploitation of animals

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6
Q

What does ensoulment mean?

A

When something gets a soul

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7
Q

What does theocentric mean?

A

God as the central focus

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8
Q

What was J.S. Mill’s view on environmental issues? (Utilitarianism)

A
  • warned of a world where the population would extirpate from it
  • natural beauty is essential to humans
  • argued for the creation of national parks and green spaces
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9
Q

What are the 3 moral concerns with animal welfare and protection?

A
  1. Is it justifiable/right to experiment on animals?
  2. Is it morally acceptable to create beings deliberately to suffer pain?
  3. Ethical dilemma to ensure profits fro companies
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10
Q

What is an ‘Absolute Dismissal Argument’?

A

Animals are placed ABSOLUTELY outside the bounds of moral considerations

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11
Q

What is a ‘Pragmatic Dismissal Argument’?

A

Animals are accorded moral status, but is not equal to that of humans

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12
Q

What is ‘proportional’?

A

Maintaining that animals should be accorded moral rights when there is a proportional reason

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13
Q

What is Speciesism? Who was it coined by?

A

R. Ryder

The disproportionate moral right given to members of one species - the human species

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14
Q

What is Speciesism argued to be on par with?

A

Racism and Sexism

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15
Q

What does Jeremy Bentham view about animal welfare?

A

The question is ‘can they suffer’ and clearly they do so this must be sufficient to accord them rights?

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16
Q

Animals for food - what is the issue here?

A

Transgenic manipulation - where an organisms’ genome is altered by foreign DNA

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17
Q

What is the intention of transgenic manipulation?

A

To produce a greater meat yeild

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18
Q

What are the issues with transgenic manipulation?

A

The animals can suffer from deformity and life-threatening issues

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19
Q

What is an example of transgenic manipulation?

A

‘Superpig’

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20
Q

What is a criticism against speciesism?

A

Bernard Williams: As human beings, it is natural to give greater weight to the interests of other human beings

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21
Q

What is the problem that sustainability tackles?

A

The earth has finite resources so we must use them appropriately

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22
Q

How does sustainability link to stewardship and dominionism?

A
  • the responsibility of the earth is placed in the hands of humans
  • must protect and preserve life
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23
Q

How can sustainability be combatted?

A
  • hold corporations accountable
  • stop excessive use of finite resources
24
Q

What are the ethical implications of sustainability?

A

Utilitarianism - the aftermath of a lack of sustainability will affect a greater amount, thus sue the principle of utility

25
Q

What did Freidrich Engles observe?

A

Conditions in manchester and concluded that capitalist industrialisation had reduced standards of life and expectancy of the poor

26
Q

Who did Engles observe benefitting from overconsumption?

A

Those controlling factories

27
Q

What is waste?

A

Discarded or expelled excess matter, can be medical, nuclear, radioactive, household and food

28
Q

What are the ethical implications of waste?

A

The long-term potential harm, focuses on 2 classes of ethical concerns: intergenerational; and intragenerational

29
Q

What is Intergenerational equity?

A
  • long-term safety considerations rather than long-term surveillance
  • some waste is unavoidable so it requires special management
30
Q

What is Intragenerational equity?

A
  • resource allocation and public involvement
  • liability of waste considered when planning new projects
  • responsibility of waste should lie with those who generate it
31
Q

What is climate change?

A

A long term shift in temperatures and weather

32
Q

What is the scientific evidence concerning climate change?

A
  • the destruction of rainforests and CO2 emissions left a depletion in the earth’s atmosphere
  • polar caps and glaciers are melting
  • extreme weather events
  • sea levels rising
  • rising population
33
Q

How can climate change be combatted

A
  • Paris Climate Treaty
  • insulate homes
  • less car usage
  • reduce, resue, recyle
  • hold managers accountable
  • tax carbon emissions, waste and pollution
34
Q

What is climate fatigue?

A

Those who disagree with scientists over the causes of climate change - scepticism

35
Q

What are some reasons for climate fatigue?

A
  • leaked emails in 2009 from scientists at UEA, suggests they were manipulating data
  • in 2009 41% of Americans believed climate change was overexaggerated
36
Q

What are the key religious views on stewardship and conservation?

A

1) Humans are stewards of God’s creation and must have a responsibility to cultivate and care for

2) (Theocentric and Anthropocentric) The world is for the benefit of humans

37
Q

What is a modern Catholic view on environmental issues?

A

Those that damage God’s creation, do not help the poor and threaten the environment are contrary to the vision of the Gospels

38
Q

What do the 5 principles of the Church imply?

A

A religious moral duty:

  • creation has value in itself and reveals God
  • Humans are dependent but responsible
  • creation reveals human sin
  • creation participates in human redemption
  • creation is the world to come
39
Q

What does Aquinas argue for environmental issues?

A

Basing it on Genesis 1-3, animals are not equal to humans and not made in God’s image

Humans must glorify God through the environment

Animals are naturally subject to man

40
Q

What does Roger Cook argue for environmental issues?

A

Humans can manipulate nature more than any other species, they have a special responsibility to care for it

41
Q

What does Roger Scruton argue for environmental issues?

A

Humans are the hights species on the planet and therefore fulfil their nature when protecting the environment

42
Q

Who criticises Aquinas?

A

Peter Singer - the emphasis on human dominion is not acceptable

43
Q

Who criticises Cook?

A

Arne Naess - building on Mill’s harm principle, some manipulations cause harm to the environment

44
Q

Who criticises Scruton?

A

Peter Singer - this is a speciesist approach

45
Q

What is Shallow ecology?

A

Environmental preservation should only be practised if it is human’s interests

46
Q

What is Deep ecology?

A

Humankind is an integrated part of the environment

47
Q

Who criticises Shallow ecology?

A

Satish Kumar - fails to acknowledge the importance of non-humans on the planet

environmental activist and Jain Monck

48
Q

What are some secular views on environmental issues?

A

Arne Naess, James Lovelock and Peter Singer

49
Q

What are Singer’s preferences?

A

Preference Utilitarianism:
- we must give intrinsic value to all sentient life forms
- this is the best way of approaching environmental ethics

50
Q

What does Arne Naess argue about environmental issues?

A

People should live simply and accept that animals, plants and the environment are as a whole with rights

51
Q

How does Mill’s harm principle play into environmental issues?

A

It recognises that humans need their own place as a part of a complex universe - so act in a way that causes minimal harm

52
Q

Which ancient Greek philosopher supports deep ecology?

A

Aristotle

53
Q

What is James Lovelock’s argument concerning environmental issues?

A

The GAIA hypothesis:
- the ecosystems of the world are an entity in their own right
- the Earth is a self-regulating complex system

54
Q

What are Lovelock’s 4 ways to save humankind?

A
  • megacities
  • nuclear energy
  • artificially controlling Earth’s temperature
  • let AI take over
55
Q

What are the normative ethical responses to the environmental problem?

A

Natural Law: self-preservation and worship of God are 2 primary precepts that support the environment

Kantian Ethics: Principle of Universality - do not destroy plants or animals and the principle of humanity, to stop selfish actions

Virtue Ethics: (Scruton) it fulfils human nature when they safeguard the environment

56
Q

What ethical theories are accused of being anthropocentric?

A

Utilitarianism and Situation Ethis

57
Q

What 2 religions can be connected to Deep Ecology?

A

Jainism and Buddhism

Edexcel A Level Ethics - Applied (5 decks)

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