PHIL 112 RU Application of Anthropocentrism in Social Ethics Exam Practice
I.Identifying Anthropocentrism. Put a check beside any quote below that indicates a statement in which the author is most likely being primarily “anthropocentric.” [.75 points each Let us make man in our image and likeness to rule the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the cattle, all the wild animals on earth and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth. So God created them in his own image and blessed them and said to them “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Genesis 1:26-29We refute the error of those who claim that it is a sin for man to kill brute animals. For animals are ordered to man’s use in the natural course of things, according to divine providence. Consequently, man uses them without any injustice, either by killing them or employing them in any other way. For this reason, God said to Noah: “As the green herbs, I have delivered all flesh to you.” -St. Thomas AquinasT]here is no reason to imagine that the beasts do, through a natural and enforced instinct, the same things that we do by choice and skill. From like results we must infer like faculties (and from more abundant results, more abundant faculties); and we must consequently confess that the same reason, the same methods, that we employ in working are also employed by the animals (if not some other and better ones). -Michel de Montaigne, “Apology for Raymond Sebond”So far as animals are concerned, we have no direct duties. Animals are not self-conscious, and are there merely as a means to an end. That end is man. -Kant, “Duties Towards Animals and Spirits”We should boycott those who treat animals, the environment, and workers so callously.Plants exist for the sake of animals… all other animals exist for the sake of man, tame animals for the use he can make of them as well as for the food they provide; and as for wild animals, most though not all of these can be used for food and are useful in other ways; clothing and tools can be made out of them. If then we are right in believing that nature makes nothing without some end in view, nothing to no purpose, it must be that nature has made all things specifically for the sake of man. –Aristotle[Here’s an interesting one. Hint: At first glance it seems nonanthropocentric, but arguably it’s a very broad-minded view about how we can be better as people. Ponder it. You’ll be right either way!] True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to fore only when its recipient has no power. Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test, consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect humankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it. -Milan Kundera“[A]s Chrysippus cleverly put it, just as a shield-case is made for the sake of a shield and a sheath for the sake of a sword, so everything else except the world was created for the sake of some other thing; thus the corn and fruits produced by the earth were created for the sake of animals, and animals for the sake of man: for example the horse for riding, the ox for ploughing, the dog for hunting and keeping guard.” ___ According to Kant, consequences for overall social welfare should determine right and wrong. (Be sure to get this one right. The emphasis on consequences sounds like Singer. Would Kant agree with utilitarians that morality is fundamentally about consequences? If you’re in doubt, look up “deontology” and “Kant.”)___ Philosophy, at its inception in ancient Greece, was thought of an enduring friendship with wisdom___ Alice Walker believes horses have value independent of people’s interests.___ Immanuel Kant argues that we should never treat another rational agent as a mere means to our ends. But he argues that nonhuman animals are not rational agents and that they are rightly valued solely as means to human ends. (Hint: Remember that Regan disagrees with Kant’s anthropocentrism while [unlike Singer] agreeing with Kant’s overall deontological approach to ethics.)___ Eddie Glaude, Jr. argues that we still live in a country that sends many Americans daily signals that their lives are of lesser value than folks from the other side of their still-segregated hometown. ___ According to Singer, if you want to do the right thing, you should make your decision based on rational argumentation rather than on love and empathy. Love biases doing the right thing; numbers correct sentimental biases, he argues. (This is a review question from Exam 1.)___ Tom Regan argues all other animals are rational agents. (Be careful. If in doubt, see the Regan reading, where he’s very clear about his view on this.)___ Jeremy Bentham writes: “The question is not, Can they reason? Nor Can they talk? But Can they suffer?” (Hint: If you’re in doubt, see the Singer reading on the equality of animals.)___ From the standpoint of Eddie Glaude, Jr., moral obligations are identical to legal obligations. That is, as long as you are following the laws of your society, you are living as you ought to live.___ According to Chief Justice Robert Yazzie, Navajo justice is based on coercion or force.___ “Cornucopians” believe our consumption and population levels are excessive, and they are very alarmed by our exploitation of natural resources and by the scale of overall human impact on natural systems. (see notes)___ [Note, in case you aren’t opening this document in Word: The diagram on the left below shows separate circles, and the diagram on the right shows overlapping circles.] The diagram on the left below best illustrates human-human and human-nature relationships in Watsuji's Japanese ethics. (See D2L lecture/handout on Confucian ethics.) Earth’s most populated countries in 2020 are, in order:A being has intrinsic value if that being is valued as (a) a means to some end, (b) 21 Savage, (c) an instrument for one’s own satisfactions, (d) an end-in-itself, (e) an end to some means. (See Regan text, notes, and my animal ethics lecture on D2L; if you’re in doubt, look this on up!)Who is most associated with this position: Equal consideration for relevantly similar interests of all beings capable of feeling pain or pleasure determines what we should and shouldn’t do to bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of individuals. (a) Kant, (b) Singer, (c) Regan, (d) Appiah, (e) Walker. (This is a review question from Exam 1.)According to Glaude, this famous American author argued that there is a lie at the heart of the American story, and this lie perpetuates a gap between the valuing of white lives and other lives. This like is our greatest obstacle to achieving America’s potential as a multiracial democracy: (a) Immanuel Kant, (b) Peter Singer, (c) Robert Yazzie, (d) James Baldwin, (e) Drake.0Circle all who WERE or ARE deontologists: (a) Immanuel Kant, (b) Jeremy Bentham, (c) Confucius, (d) John Stuart Mill, (e) Peter Singer. (Hint: Confucius is best understood as a virtue theorist, so I’d suggest not circling at least that one!) According to Aristotle, which sort of relationship best taps the potential of human friendship: (a) one based on mutual usefulness, (b) one based on mutual pleasure, (c) one based on self-interested pursuits, (d) one based on mutual regard for the other’s moral excellence, (e) one based on shared religious creeds. (See Aristotle lecture notes/handouts on D2L.)Circle our author [who we’re reading in our unit on racial justice] who wrote: Representative Paul Ryan’s “hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, concretized the American Idea for him. …For him, Janesville represents the values of the American Idea: a tight-knit community where money and class aren’t really talked about, where people ‘make their own opportunities’ and share a set of values such as personal responsibility and accountability. …I grew up in a small town too, not in Wisconsin, but on the coast of Mississippi. …Everything about my childhood let me know that I had to work twice as hard for opportunity and that I shouldn’t expect the world to be fair…. My hometown is no less American than his, yet Ryan’s American Idea cannot quite countenance the existence of it.” (a) Tom Regan, (b) Martha Nussbaum, (c) Robert Yazzie, (d) Eddie Glaude, (e) Toni Morrison.From 1987 to 1999 the human population grew by about this amount, then added an equal number between 1999 and 2011: (a) 100 billion, (b) 1 million, (c) 100 million, (d) 10 billion, (e) 1 billion.This philosopher argues that a primary purpose of the state should be to provide the conditions whereby human beings can achieve friendship. (Think about it, and be sure to review all lectures notes on D2L for this section of the course.) (a) McKibben, (b) Kant, (c) Singer, (d) Aristotle, (e) Bentham.To say that global warming is “anthropogenic” means: (a) it is caused by anthropologists, (b) it is mostly caused by natural cycles of cooling and heating, (c) it is caused by the thrash metal band Anthrax, (d) it is principally human in origin, (e) it is a product of Divine wrath. [hint: look it up]The largest historical emitter (i.e., total emitter since the industrial revolution, not annual emitter) of greenhouse gases since the industrial revolution is: (a) Russia, (b) India, (c) Brazil, (d) China, (e) United States.The human population is now around: (a) 5.7 billion, (b) 7.7 million, (c) 6.7 million, (d) 770,000, (e) 7.7 billion.____________________ [term starting with the letter “A…”] is the view that only humans have moral worth (or that humans are atop a hierarchy of moral worth), and in popular culture it often includes a belief that the Earth was created principally for human use. Peter Singer, Alice Walker, and Tom Regan reject this outlook.____________________ [author’s name] wrote: “The forlornness of the veal calf is pathetic, heart wrenching…. But the fundamental wrong isn’t the pain, isn’t the suffering, isn’t the deprivation. These compound what’s wrong.”____________________ [name of famous African-American novelist and poet, from our unit on animal ethics] wrote: “I was shocked that I had forgotten that human animals and nonhuman animals can communicate quite well; if we are brought up around animals as children we take this for granted. By the time we are adults we no longer remember. However, the animals have not changed.”__________________ [term] is the Navajo term Chief Justice Robert Yazzie describes as the “end goal of law.” Associated with the metaphor of harmony and connoting a well-functioning set of relationships, “It is when people come together and deal with each other well.” (see D2L unit on comparative conceptions of justice)____________________ [ancient philosopher’s name] This philosopher/religious leader saw himself as trying to get his country back on the Path or “Way” (Tao)—for him this meant an ideal way of social conduct. This differs from the idea of a society that is dedicated to individualism and protecting “rights” as fundamental. Harmony is the key idea. Education plays into this ideal, especially given that the texts of the past show us a better way to be. Education provides a moral basis, which is very different from the idea of education as “getting a better job.” (see D2L)____________________ [philosopher’s name] According to this ancient Greek philosopher, the aim of human activity is to realize a distinctively human good, happiness (eudaimonia). This what human nature aims at. This is not a good that is determined solely by each individual's subjective desires and preferences. Rather, this philosopher argues, it is what is good for all human beings because all human beings belong to the same species (eidos). Our common essence allows us, this philosopher thinks, to determine a general good. One of the greatest goods of our species is friendship, which this philosopher regards as essential to human happiness. (from our virtue ethics unit)____________________ [author’s name] wrote: “Somehow, people absurdly believe—and they have done so for much of our history—that black social misery is the result of hundreds of thousands of unrelated bad individual decisions by black people all across this country.” (Hint: This is from one of our assigned readings on racial justice)____________________ [philosopher’s name] According to this philosopher, friendships are deep, emotional relationships which take time to mature and in the course of which each friend can work for the other’s good. (from our unit on virtue ethics)Which of the following phrasings comes closest to representing Immanuel Kant’s version of the “practical imperative,” a derivation of what Kant called the “categorical imperative”? (a) Never treat other rational agents as ends-in-themselves, (b) Never look directly at the Sun, (c) Never use other rational agents as mere means to selfish ends, (d) Never use any animal as a mere means to selfish ends, (e) Never treat ends-in-themselves as rational agents. (See handout, Regan, and Kant; we discussed this in several class lectures and in supplementary notes. Hint: Kant’s practical imperative prohibits treating rational agents as nothing but instruments for our selfish purposes, but he’s an anthropocentrist, so [unlike Regan] he doesn’t think it’s wrong to treat other animals as mere instruments for advancing human satisfactions.)The authors of our reading on white perception of racial justice as a zero-sum game is: (a) Nussbaum, (b) Norton & Sommers, (c) Glaude, (d) Yazzie, (e) Appiah.The title of Aristotle’s most influential work on ethics is: (a) Bohemian Rhapsody, (b) The Lies That Bind, (c) From Field to Fork, (d) Nicomachean Ethics, (e) The Republic. (See Aristotle lecture notes on D2L from our Virtue Theory unit.)Peter Singer’s animal ethics is most precisely classified as a type of: (a) kindling, (b) anthropocentrism, (c) ecological holism or ecocentrism, (d) sentientism, (e) Bagism, shagism, dragism, madism, ragism, tagism.According to work in cross-cultural psychology discussed in Unit 3 (East Asian Comparative Standpoint—see powerpoint on D2L), students in East Asia tend on average to pay more attention to _____________ than students in the United States. (a) manga, (b) isolated objects, (c) context, background, and relationships, (d) individual faces, (e) money.Circle the name of the Medieval hierarchy of existence and value (God-Angels-Humans-Animals-Plants-Inert Matter) that supported an anthropocentric worldview prior to the development of modern science: (a) the yellow submarine, (b) the noodly appendages of the flying spaghetti monster, (c) the Great Chain of Being, (d) the Chain Gang of Cooke, (e) Phish [Hint: See animal ethics ppt and class notes] The characters to the left, pronounced ningen in Japanese (and used in the way “human being” is used in English) mean: (a) hip hop, (b) person separate from, (c) self-reliance, (d) person as atomistic individual, (e) person between. (See notes and powerpoint on Watsuji from Unit 3 East Asian Comparative Standpoint.)___ From a Chinese Confucian perspective, one is a baby first and so in need of parents and caretakers. Hence, on this view, one is first and foremost a family member. This relational view stands in contrast with the mainstream American view that a person is first and foremost an “individual” endowed with rights. (See D2L lecture on Confucian role ethics.)___The fundamental wrong, according to Regan, is that we are using other “subjects-of-a-life” as mere resources, thereby violating their rights. Hence, we must abolish all animal practices that reduce subjects-of-a-life to the status of mere means to human ends. (Hint: See his essay, which is very clear about this.)___ Tom Regan was an animal rights philosopher who advocated empty cages, not merely bigger cages.___ Utilitarianism is always explicitly anthropocentric. That is, there can’t be a nonanthropocentric utilitarian. (Hint: Think about Singer.)___ According to Immanuel Kant, we have no direct duties to nonhuman animals, but we do have indirect duties to them. (See assigned text, lectures, notes, ppts, and handout.)___According to Peter Singer, a “speciesist” is someone who gives equal consideration to relevantly similar interests of all beings capable of suffering. (Hint: Recall that, for Singer, “speciesism” is morally analogous to racism or sexism.)___ Tom Regan was a biocentrist who thought that the inherent value of all life (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, etc.) determines what we should and shouldn’t do. Hence Regan explicitly argues that all living things (not just those who are “subjects of a life”) have rights, even the coronavirus. (Don’t miss this one. If in doubt, look it up. Remember that my animal ethics lecture on D2L is a helpful resource for this exam.)___ In his “marginal case argument,” Singer holds that there is no morally relevant characteristic (such as reason, culture, or the ability to feel pain) possessed by all humans but lacked by all other animals. (Consult assigned text, ppt, lectures, notes, and handout.) ___ According to the I=PAT equation, the environmental impact of human population growth is mostly a problem of industrialized countries. (Hint: yep.)___ A J-curve describes stabilizing population growth. (Hint: If in doubt, look it up.)___ An S-curve describes population growth in many Eastern African countries. (Hint: If in doubt, look it up.)___ China will emit more greenhouse gases like CO₂ in 2020 than any other country. ___ A J-curve describes stabilizing population growth. (Hint: If in doubt, look it up.)___ An S-curve describes population growth in many Eastern African countries. (Hint: If in doubt, look it up.)___ China will emit more greenhouse gases like CO₂ in 2020 than any other country.___ Like Japan, the populations of some Eastern European countries are declining rather than growing. (If in doubt, look it up.) --Peter Singer and Jim Mason, The Way We Eat ______China__________________ _______India_________________ ________USA________________
