Chapter 15 Questions

. Biocentrism is the view that

the only beings that possess direct moral standing are human beings.

all and only sentient creatures have direct moral standing.

all living beings, because they are living, possess direct moral standing.

the primary bearers of direct moral standing are ecosystems in virtue of their functional integrity.

. Suppose Mary says, "I understand that the use of the pesticide DDT will prevent thousands of human beings from dying of malaria. But it is still wrong to use DDT, because ultimately all that matters is the functional integrity of the ecosystems in which human beings live, and using DDT will severely damage this integrity." Mary is most likely a proponent of

biocentrism.

anthropocentrism.

ecoholism.

ecocentrism.

. Suppose Nathan argues that while neither nonhuman nor nonsentient beings have direct moral standing, we still ought to have a certain noninstrumental regard for the environment because failing to do so involves a deficiency in one's moral character. Nathan is most likely applying what moral theory?

virtue ethics

consequentialism

Kantian theory

an ethics of prima facie duty

. If it were known that a policy would wipe out several animal species without negatively affecting human beings, Baxter would most likely say that

this policy is morally problematic because it harms the environment.

this policy is morally problematic because it damages the integrity of the ecosystem.

this policy is morally obligatory because the environment ought not to exist.

this policy is morally unproblematic.

. Baxter claims that his "very general way" of stating what we should strive for environmentally assumes that

we have a god-like control over the environment.

we can measure in some way the incremental units of human satisfaction.

nonhuman animals have no value whatsoever.

all of the above

. Leopold claims that history has shown that "the conqueror role is eventually self-defeating." It is self-defeating, in this view, because

the conqueror doesn't understand what makes the conquered community tick.

the conqueror doesn't know what and who within the community is valuable.

the conqueror doesn't know what and who is worthless in community life.

all of the above

. Leopold most likely describes the "land pyramid" to

argue that nature is not inherently normative.

provide a description of a mechanism that "we can see, feel, understand, love, or otherwise have faith in."

give a detailed description of how plants absorb energy from the sun.

argue that even the noneconomic parts of the "biotic clock" have economic value.

. Instead of asking why the act of destroying the environment might be immoral, Hill wants to ask

why the act of destroying nature might be immoral.

why people who destroy the environment might be bad people.

how the decision to preserve the environment benefits the environment.

whether plants have interests.

. According to Gardiner, which of the following is an important implication of the fact that carbon dioxide is a long-lived greenhouse gas?

That climate change is a resilient phenomenon.

That the impacts of climate change are seriously back-loaded.

That climate change is a substantially deferred phenomenon.

all of the above

. In the context of Gardiner's article, what is "the dispersion of causes and effects"?

the dispersion of the impacts of emissions of greenhouse gases to other actors and regions of the Earth

the dispersion of the causes of greenhouse gas emissions across the Earth

the dispersion of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere

the dispersion of fault and blame for causing greenhouse gas emissions.

. What is an example of "mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon"?

all countries cooperating to change the existing incentive structure by introducing a system of enforceable sanctions to curb climate change.

the agreement of more powerful nations to require less powerful nations to curb greenhouse gas emissions for the benefit of all humanity.

the agreement of less powerful nations to boycott trade with more powerful nations until the latter agree to curb their greenhouse gas emissions.

the agreement of a large number of individual agents to restrict their own pollution.

. Sinnott-Armstrong is most interested in examining issues about the moral obligations of

individuals.

societies.

governments.

families.

. The main difference between "actual act principles" (like the harm principle) and "internal principles" (like the universalizability principle) is that

internal principles focus on the agent's motives for acting.

internal principles focus only on the immediate effects of an action.

actual act principles focus on the agent's actual motives for acting.

actual act principles concern how we ought to think about other people.

. Hourdequin argues that one flaw of consequentialist calculation is that

it fails to reconcile prima facie duties.

it can run counter to a person's being able to integrate her commitments at various levels.

it can run counter to the idea that persons are atomistic and individually rational actors.

it fails to recognize that possibility that the persons are best understood in relation to one another.

. In contrast to Garrett Hardin's approach, the Confucian model rejects coercion because

the costs of eliminating a collective action problem are not irrelevant to its solution

it affirms the autonomy of individuals apart from others.

it cannot lead to real social change, which involves changes of mind as well as action

The Confucian model actually accepts coercion.

. Any ethic that accords direct moral standing to nonhuman creatures is an environmental ethic.

True

False

. Baxter defends an anthropocentric approach to ethical issues concerning the environment.

True

False

. In Baxter's view, the costs of controlling pollution are best expressed in terms of the number of dollars that will need to be spent.

True

False

. Hill claims that it's possible to not regard an act as wrong while at the same time seeing it as reflecting something objectionable about the person who performed that act.

True

False

. According to Hill, understanding one's place in nature is the same thing as appreciating one's place in nature.

True

False

. According to Gardiner, the "fragmentation of agency" leads to humanity's relative inability to respond to climate change due to the lack of an effective, centralized system of global governance.

True

False

. According to Gardiner, the main problem inherent in the theoretical storm of climate change is that of moral corruption.

True

False

. Sinnott-Armstrong claims that it is morally better for individuals to not engage in activities like driving a gas-guzzling car just for fun.

True

False

. According to Sinnott-Armstrong, the fact that we cannot find any moral principle (to support our moral intuitions) shows that we don't need such principles.

True

False

. According to Hourdequin, the integrity of a person committed to opposing climate change grounds a prima facie duty to control his or her greenhouse gas emissions.

True

False

. _________ is the view that all living beings, because they are living, possess direct moral standing, and thus morality includes requirements that include direct moral concern for all living beings.

. _________ is the view that the only beings who possess direct moral standing are human beings and all other beings (living and nonliving) are of mere indirect moral concern.

. Because Baxter appeals to the idea that "every human being should be regarded as an end," we can think of him as invoking the _________ formulation of Kant's categorical imperative.

. Leopold says, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the _________ community [including soils, waters, plants, animals]. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

. The term "the balance of nature," says Leopold, fails to adequately describe what little we know about the land mechanism. He suggests we instead think of the "much truer image . . . employed in ecology": that of the biotic _________.

. One aspect of humility, what Hill calls _________, "involves acknowledging, in more than a merely intellectual way, that we are the sort of creatures we are."

. In Gardiner's analysis, climate change is a normal tragedy of the _________.

. According to Gardiner, the problem of overpollution can be characterized as a prisoner's dilemma. On one horn of the dilemma, it is _________ rational not to restrict one's own pollution.

. According to what Sinnott-Armstrong calls the _________ principle, we have a moral obligation not to make problems worse.

. In developing her response to Sinnott- Armstrong, Hourdequin appeals to the _________ nature of Confucius's account of persons.

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