Chapter 14 Questions

. Mary's laptop deserves moral consideration only because she owns it and cares about it. Thus, Mary's laptop has

direct moral standing.

indirect moral standing.

relative moral standing.

inherent or intrinsic worth.

. If animals have no direct or indirect moral standing, then using them for human purposes is

always wrong.

always obligatory.

never wrong.

never optional.

. According to Singer, which of the following is the single relevant factor in determining whether something has moral status?

dignity

belonging to a moral community

sentience

none of the above

. In Singer's understanding, the principle of the equality of human beings is

a description of an alleged actual equality among humans.

a description of an alleged actual inequality among humans.

a prescription of how we should treat nonhuman animals.

a prescription of how we should treat humans.

. What, according to Singer, is the only defensible boundary of concern for the interests of others?

intelligence

rationality

sentience

none of the above

. According to Singer, the conclusions argued for in "all animals are equal" flow from which of the following principles alone?

the principle of maximizing happiness

the principal principle

the principle of double effect

the principle of minimizing suffering

. Which of the following is a possible source of obligations, according to Cohen?

rights

freely made commitments

special relations

all of the above

. According to Cohen, animals are

moral agents.

amoral.

abstract reasoners.

all of the above

. Carruthers argues that, on contractualist grounds, nonhuman animals may be accorded which of the following kinds of moral standing?

direct

indirect

quasi-

none of the above

. According to Carruthers, which of the following groups should not be accorded direct moral standing?

human infants

the senile

the mentally disabled

none of the above

. In Carruther's view, the justification for moral criticism for things that we do (or don't to do) to an animal derives from

the animal's direct moral standing.

the animals capacity for suffering.

the bad qualities of character that our actions evince.

none of the above

. Which of the following potentially morally relevant differences between Fred's behavior and the behavior of the consumers of factory-raised meat does Norcross not discuss?

Fred's behavior involves the suffering of puppies, whereas the behavior of meat-eaters "merely" involves the suffering of chickens, pigs, cows, calves, sheep, and the like.

The suffering of the puppies is necessary for gustatory pleasure, whereas the suffering of animals on factory farms is simply a by-product of the conditions dictated by economic considerations.

Fred could prevent the suffering of the puppies, whereas meat-eaters can't prevent the suffering of the animals they consume.

none of the above

. According to Norcross, which of the following arguments poses a formidable challenge to any proposed criterion of full moral standing that excludes animals?

the ontological argument

the argument from cosmology

the argument from marginal cases

none of the above

. According to some defenders of meat-eating, the suffering of animals counts less than the suffering of humans (if at all) because

animals are rational and humans are not.

humans are rational and animals are not.

animals lack the capacity for suffering, and humans do not.

animals can tolerate more suffering than humans can.

. Norcross agrees that if a being is incapable of moral reasoning, at even the most basic level, then it cannot be

a moral patient.

a moral agent.

an object of moral sympathy.

a being of value.

. Because animals cannot be virtuous, a virtue ethics approach cannot be applied within the context of the ethics of eating animals.

True

False

. Most philosophers who have proposed the principle of equality have recognized that this principle applies to members of other species as well as to our own.

True

False

. According to Singer, equal treatment entails identical treatment.

True

False

. According to Singer, we ought not to base our opposition to racism and sexism on actual equality among human beings.

True

False

. Cohen accepts that humans do have some moral obligations to animals.

True

False

. According to Cohen, there is a sense in which animals have inherent value.

True

False

. According to Carruthers, contractualism can't consistently deny moral standing to animals without also withholding it from infants and mentally "defective" humans.

True

False

. Carruthers argues that nonhuman animals have direct moral standing.

True

False

. Norcross thinks that what grounds moral agency is different from what grounds moral standing as a patient.

True

False

. Norcross believes that the behavior of those who knowingly support factory farming is morally permissible.

True

False

. Roughly, for something to have _________ moral standing is for it, independent of its relation to other things or creatures, to possess features in virtue of which it deserves to be given moral consideration.

. According to Singer, it is an implication of the _________ that our concern for others and our readiness to consider their interests shouldn't depend on what they are like or on what abilities they may possess.

. Singer refers to the view that it's always wrong to take an innocent human life as the _________ view.

. Cohen discusses the view of Immanuel _________ that to be a moral agent is to be able to grasp the generality of moral restrictions on our will.

. According to Carruthers, if a set of moral rules is to provide social stability and preserve the peace, that set of moral rules must be _________.

. According to Carruthers, the most basic kind of wrongdoing toward animals is _________.

. Carruthers tentatively suggests that our Western moral attitudes toward animals form part of the _________ content of our morality.

. According to Norcross, those who attempt to justify their meat-eating by appeal to a claim of causal impotence are guilty of _________.

. In the course of uncovering what he takes to be the speciesist's central confusion, Norcross questions the moral relevance of _________.

. The traditional view is that _________ is what morally separates humans from other animals.

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