Environmental ethics and animal rights debates and the major ethical arguments on each side.
30 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- Define anthropocentrism in environmental ethics.
Show answer
The view that human interests are the primary or only basis for moral consideration in environmental decisions.- Define biocentrism in environmental ethics.
Show answer
The view that all living organisms have intrinsic value and moral standing, not just humans.- Define ecocentrism.
Show answer
The view that entire ecosystems, species, and ecological wholes have intrinsic value and moral status.- What is Aldo Leopold's land ethic?
Show answer
An environmental framework stating that something is right if it preserves the integrity and stability of the ecosystem, wrong if it tends otherwise.- What is the difference between deep ecology and shallow ecology?
Show answer
Shallow ecology seeks to reduce pollution and resource depletion while preserving human interests; deep ecology questions anthropocentric values themselves and advocates for nature's intrinsic worth.- Who is Paul Taylor and what did he contribute to environmental ethics?
Show answer
An environmental philosopher who developed biocentrism, arguing that every living organism has inherent worth based on its telos (natural purpose).- Define speciesism.
Show answer
Prejudice or discrimination on the basis of species membership, analogous to racism or sexism; coined by Peter Singer.- What is Peter Singer's position on animal ethics?
Show answer
Animals deserve moral consideration because they can suffer; their capacity for suffering, not species membership, is what matters morally.- What is Tom Regan's animal rights view?
Show answer
Animals are subjects of a life with inherent value and possess moral rights, not mere interests; they should not be used merely as resources.- What is the argument from marginal cases?
Show answer
If humans with cognitive disabilities have full moral status despite limited capacities, then non-human animals with comparable or greater capacities should also have significant moral status.- Explain the contractarian approach to animal ethics.
Show answer
Animals lack the capacity to enter into social contracts with humans, so they fall outside the scope of moral obligations, though humans may have duties regarding them based on other grounds.- How does virtue ethics approach animal ethics?
Show answer
Virtue ethics focuses on the character of the moral agent; cruelty to animals cultivates vice, while compassion cultivates virtue, regardless of animals' moral status.- Define intrinsic value in environmental ethics.
Show answer
Value that something possesses in itself, independent of its usefulness to humans or anyone else.- Define instrumental value.
Show answer
Value something has based on its usefulness or contribution to something else that is valued, such as providing resources or benefits to humans.- What is the precautionary principle in environmental ethics?
Show answer
When an activity raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken even if cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.
FlashKeepers