PHI 208 Week 2 Discussion 2 (Singer and Moral Justification)
PHI 208 Week 2 Discussion 2 (Singer and Moral Justification)
Singer argues that there is no moral justification for denying moral consideration to animals. Can you think of a good moral reason why our moral consideration should include all humans, even those without the ability to reason, yet be denied to all non-human animals (some of whom have that ability)? What response might he have to your way of drawing the line between the types of beings that should get moral consideration and those that should not?Tom Regan says that we all have equal inherent value by virtue of being ‘experiencing subjects of a life’. What does it mean to be an ‘experiencing subject of a life’? Do you think that being the subject of a life means that one has equal inherent value? Does it follow from that view that animals should be given rights to life and freedom?
1. Question : According to the video “Meet Your Meat”, which of the following is true of how animals are slaughtered on factory farms
2. Question : In what way does Peter Singer think that speciesism is similar to racism and sexism?
3. Question : According to chapter 2 of Understanding Philosophy, utilitarianism is a form of what broader kind of ethical theory?
4. Question : According to Tom Regan, what is fundamentally wrong with the treatment of animals in our current system?
5. Question : What is Tom Regan’s position about the use of animals in research and agriculture?
6. Question : According to chapter 2 of Understanding Philosophy, which of the following would be an expression of rule utilitarianism, rather than act utilitarianism?
7. Question : Which of the following statements is the strongest evidence that the person saying it is a utilitarian?
8. Question : What moral theory does Jeremy Bentham (with whom Singer seems to agree) endorse?
9. Question : The video “Meet Your Meat” can best be described as primarily communicating which message?
10. Question : Which of the following does Tom Regan say about the utilitarian approach to animal ethics?
11. Question : Peter Singer’s “basic principle of equality” applied to animals means:
12. Question : Which of the following describes how egg-laying hens are treated in factory farms, according to the video “Meet Your Meat”?
13. Question : According to John Stuart Mill, utilitarianism takes into account the happiness of:
14. Question : According to chapter 2 of Understanding Philosophy, which of the following makes it difficult to calculate the utility of an act, raising a potential problem for utilitarianism?
15. Question : What is a key feature of utilitarianism according to the assigned texts?
16. Question : Tom Regan’s view of animals is that:
17. Question : What does Tom Regan say is the source of inherent value in an individual, whether human or animal?
18. Question : According to Mill, utilitarian morality holds that:
19. Question : What is speciesism according to Peter Singer’s account?
20. Question : What is the point of Regan’s discussion about Aunt Bea and utilitarianism’s respect for human life?