PHIL test 1 Flashcards
State the principle of Aldo Leopold’s ‘land ethic.’
An action is right when it tends to promote the beauty, integrity and stability of the eco- system; it is wrong when it tends otherwise.
Taylor states that non-human living things are not moral agents and do not possess moral rights. He nevertheless holds that living things deserve equal moral respect and consideration within human ethical decision- making. Explain how he uses a conception of the human good to arrive at this position. (Worth 4 marks)
Taylor provides an argument for the conclusion that all living things deserve equal moral consideration. The human good, for Taylor, involves being rational agents. Rational agents are able to discern that a conclusion follows from an argument and act in accordance with what reason requires. So, realizing our good as rational agents involves acting in accordance with the conclusion of his equality argument.
Would Peter Singer say that a species of animal (e.g. Bengal tigers) has moral value as a species? Explain. (Worth 3 marks)
Under Singer’s theory a species would have no moral value as such. Moral value for Singer is a matter of being the sort of thing that has interests, and he defines this in terms utilities which require the capacity for experiencing pleasures and pains. While an individual animal can have an interest in this sense, a species does not have a nervous system or brain and so lacks the interests that would qualify it as a possessor of moral value.
What are the four principal fields of philosophical study?
Metaphysics, epistemology, axiology, logic
What are the three fields of the philosophical study of ethics ?
Applied Ethics, Metaethics & Normative Ethics
What’s the difference between ethical theories of the good and theories of the right ?
Theories of the good is a theory that will make ethical evaluations in terms of good consequences as they say the affects of actions is what determines whether or not an action is good or an action is bad; ethical or unethical.
Theory of the right however is going to say that consequences are irrelevant to ethical evaluations and that actions are right or wrong in themselves. The action in itself makes it right or wrong. Actions are right / wrong in themselves is the focus of theories of the right.
What is the Principle of Utility ?
It says that you should act in such a way to maximize the aggregate utility for all effected by your act.
What is the Categorical Imperative ?
The Categorical Imperative says that firstly, act only upon that maxim that you can and at the same time will as a universal law. The second form is always treat humanity including yourself as ends in themselves and never merely as means. It derives from Kant’s Deontology.
What’s the difference between deontic ethics and aretaic ethics ?
Deontic theories are duty based-theories that is to say that they involve duties on whether to act or not to act in certain ethical situations. We look at certain ethical rules on if we should act or not to act in certain situations.
Aretaic theories focus on character of the person and looks at who the person really is as a person (their character). If you are a good person, you will do good things.
How does Singer argue for the moral equality of animals and what does this equality entail for utilitarianism ?
Singer argues that anything that can process pain(has interests) has utilities that we need to take into consideration like other human beings in terms of calculating our moral duties.
Singer is a utilitarian and he wants to retain traditional canon ethics but tweak the theory a bit to adjust what sorts of things we need to take into ethical consideration regarding animal ethics. If you are a utilitarian you should act in such a way that maximizes happiness / utility for everybody affected. A big part of Singer’s theory was to focus on whether or not an entity has a brain, nervous system, and feelings. This will determine if animals should be treated as equals.
What is Regan’s definition of the ‘subject of a life’ and know how this differs from Kant’s account of human dignity ?
Definition: it involves more than being merely alive and more than being merely conscious. It is to have beliefs and desires, perception, memory and a sense of the future, including their own future ; an emotional life together with feelings of pleasure and pain; preference and welfare interests; the ability to initiate action in pursuit of desires and goals; a psychological identity over time; and an individual welfare in the sense that their experiential life fares well or ill for them, independently of their utility for others.
What are the core elements of Leopold’s ethical holism and what is his land ethic principle ?
The core elements: 1) Humans are a part of nature, not separate / superior.
2) We should look to the life sciences to tell us about ethics. 3) Land ethic principle
Land ethic principle: An action is right when it tends to promote the beauty, integrity and stability of the eco- system; it is wrong when it tends otherwise.
What does Leopold mean by the land pyramid ?
Biodiversity is a good thing. Land is not merely soil it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals. Food chains are the bling channels which conduct energy upwards, death and decay return it to the soil. Through a love for the land we can be ethical regarding the land.
Soil-Photosynthesis/Primary producers-Herbivore-Carnivore-Top Carnivore
What are the 4 components of Taylor’s biocentrism ?
1.Human beings are thought of as members of the earth’s community of life, holding on the same terms as apply to all non-human members.
2. Secondly, the earth’s natural ecosystems as a totality are seen as a complex web of interconnected elements, with the sound biological functioning of each being dependent on the sound biological functioning of the others.
3. Thirdly, each individual organism is conceived as a teleological centre of life, pursuing its own good in its own way.
4. Fourthly, whether we are concerned with standards of merit or with the concept of inherent worth, the claim that humans by their very nature are superior to other species is a groundless claim and in the light of elements 1, 2, and 3 above, must be rejected as nothing more than an irrational bias in our own favour.
What does Taylor mean by a teleological center of life ?
Each organism has a purpose and a reason for being, which is inherently good or valuable
Teleology is the study of final ends, everything has a specific way that it should be
