environmental ethics inquizitive ch 13
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South Dakota State University *
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Course
220
Subject
Philosophy
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
6
Uploaded by DrAnt10836
People concerned with the environment and global warming usually try to reduce their carbon
output by increasing their home’s energy efficiency and driving less. When people attempt
carbon neutrality, they cut their emissions as much as possible and offset the rest.
What is the most significant and intractable threat to the environment?
-climate change
Philosopher Peter Singer maintains that when calculating which action will produce the greatest
overall satisfaction of interests (for example, an interest in avoiding pain), we must include the
interests of all sentient creatures and give their interests equal weight. What philosophical
perspective is he using in defense of zoocentrism?
-utilitarianism
According to the composition of air bubbles trapped in ice cores extracted by scientists from
Greenland and Antarctica, when did atmospheric carbon dioxide levels start to sharply rise?
-the late 1800s
In 1850, there were around 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park and Waterton National Park.
How many were there in 2006?
-27
Anthropocentrism is the notion that only humans have moral standing. An anthropocentrist sees
animals, plants, and ecosystems as means to enhance the well-being of humankind, with
instrumental value.
Philosophers and animal rights advocates Peter Singer and Tom Regan adopt what perspective of
the moral status of living beings?
-zoo centrist
While climate change is the most intractable issues in environmental ethics, it is farm from the
only one. Which of the challenges below also raise key environmental issues?
-everything but euthanasia and autonomy
Moral arguments in environmental ethics depend heavily on notions of value and moral status.
The distinction between instrumental and intrinsic value is especially important.
Environmental changes have inspired many people to see the purview of ethics as encompassing
the entire natural world.
Ecofeminism is a movement embodying numerous related philosophical perspectives that seek to
understand and critique how both women and nature are treated by male-centered society.
Species non-egalitarians believe that all living entities have moral status, but some have more
moral worth than others based on sentience, moral agency, and other factors. Place the following
entities in order of moral status from greatest to least based on a species non-egalitarian
perspective.
-humans, elk, rat, cactus
Place the following entities or groups of entities in order from most consensus to least consensus
as to whether they have moral status.
-humans, non-human animals, all living things, planet earth as a whole
Which of these perspectives are consonant with ecological individualism, and which with
ecological holism.
Individualism:
-the fundamental unit of moral consideration is the individual
-only individuals have moral status
Which of the following are fundamental issues in environmental ethics?
Key issues:
-what is our responsibility with respect to our impact on the environment
-what sorts of entities have moral status and why
Do objects have intrinsic or instrumental value or both
Which arguments support the premise that all natural entities have moral status?
Supports:
-moral intuition would prioritize real trees over fake trees in the natural environment
-fake works of art are valued less than the originals
Consider the following passage from Chrisoula Andreou’s 2007 article in
Philosophy & Public
Affairs
, “Environmental Preservation and Second
-
Order Procrastination.” What claims about the
status of paintings does it support?
-that paintings can have intrinsic aesthetic value but no moral status
Greenhouse Gas:
-methane
-nitrous oxide
-carbon dioxide
-water vapor
Which of the following are consequences of global warming?
-everything but economic savings, improved air quality, and more temperature climates
everywhere
The traditional justification of anthropocentricism is along Kantian lines: that humans are
capable of making free, rational moral choices.
Which of these are possible intrinsic qualities of nature, and which are instrumental?
Intrinsic:
-status as a living thing
-organizational complexity
Which of the following are arguments against species egalitarianism?
Against:
-only humans are moral agents capable of making rational moral choices
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