Ethics Exam 2 Study Guide Applied Ethics Basic Questions about 1 What is applied ethics When someone applies philosophical methodology to a specific ethical issue that person is investigating a problem in applied ethics Applied ethics try to convince people of conclusions based on theory neutral premises 2 What are theory neutral premises and what is their relevance to applied ethics Claims that nearly everyone will admit regardless of their theoretical commitment 3 What are moral slippery slope arguments and how should they be evaluated What is a conceptual slippery slope argument and what legitimate phenomenon do such arguments tend to ignore Moral Slippery Slopes MSS a Definition a MSS argument is one that has the following form you should not do A because doing A will eventually lead to B and B should be avoided Are MSS arguments Good or Bad b There are bad MSS arguments and good ones i Bad ones give insufficient reasons or no reasons at all for thinking that A will lead to B 1 Bad moral SS arguments are called moral SS fallacies ii Good ones demonstrate or at least offer plausible reasons for a connection between each step in the slope 1 Non moral analogy mathematical induction Conceptual Slippery Slopes CSS c Definition a CSS argument is one that has the following form if A and B lie on a continuum with respect to property X and there is no clear cut off point between things that do and do not have the property then A and B ether both have the property X or both do not have X The Problem with CSS d CSS arguments simply ignore the following even when concepts are vague there can still be paradigmatic cases where the concepts apply 4 What is moral luck When the morality of an action depends on factors out of your control Ex Drunk driving if you think that a drunk driver that killed a child in the road is worse than if a drunk driver made it home you believe moral luck as a phenomenon 5 What is the doctrine of double effect if your goal is worthwhile you may be permitted to act in ways that foreseeably cause harm to others Although those harms must not be intentional Example The principle of double effect is frequently cited in cases of pregnancy and abortion A doctor who believes abortion is always morally wrong may nevertheless remove the uterus or fallopian tubes of a pregnant woman knowing the procedure will cause the death of the embryo or fetus in cases in which the woman is certain to die without the procedure In these cases the intended effect is to save the woman s life not to terminate the pregnancy and the effect of not performing the procedure would result in the greater evil of the death of both the mother and the fetus 6 According to Rachels and many others why can t you solve applied ethical issues by simply consulting the law Sometimes the law does not track morality and should be changed o Ex slavery was allowed but was changed because now thought of Animal Rights and Welfare as morally wrong 7 Give examples of some widely accepted uses of non human animals NHAs and examples of some widely condemned uses Widely accepted a and widely condemned c NHA use o As a source of goods a 10 billion NHA are killed for food in the U S each year c ivory poaching o Medical purposes a Drug testing on NHAs is mandated by law before the drugs go on the market c vivisections especially without anesthesia o Sport gaming a racing fishing hunting c dog fights o Education amusement a zoos and circuses c private collections 8 Though they both agree that many widely accepted uses of NHAs should be changed explain the difference between animal rights proponents e g Regan and animal welfare proponents e g Singer Two approaches to ethics and NHAs o Animal Welfare View Peter Singer You can do certain things to animals if not causing unnecessary suffering benefits must outweigh the costs Naturally follows from utilitarianism o Animal Rights View Tom Regan It is wrong to violate rights whether it is human rights or NHAs rights Abolish and institutions that uses animals simply as a means for our human ends More radical view than Singer 9 What are Regan s arguments against indirect duty and utilitarian views on NHAs The indirect duty and the Utilitarian views are wrong so the rights view is what s left to be right Indirect duty a social contract theorist o You have duties to not harm the owner of the animal by harming the animal o Problem Marginal cases cannot be part of the social contract It is still wrong to harm those individuals even if no one cares about them Utilitarian view pleasures and pains is all that matters in the world o Problem leaves out the individual themselves there are more than just pains and pleasures that matter in the world 10 Why does Regan think the rights view is the correct one Rights View individuals have equal inherent value Because of this they have the right to be treated with respect 11 What is the criterion for having inherent value according to Regan Sentience consciousness the experiencing subject of life 116 To have beliefs desires to be conscious and aware of the world 12 What is speciesism Important do not get confused by Cohen s misuse of the term Speciesism thinking one species is better than another for no good reason Human vs NHAs 13 What reason does an aesthetic vegetarian give for not eating meat They are literally disgusted at the through of eating NHAs 14 Briefly summarize the following philosophers objections to animal rights animal welfare views Frey and Cohen Cohen o Those who can understand moral claims are part of the moral community Therefore animals do not have rights o Regan s response what about people who aren t able to understand moral claims marginal beings o NHAs have no desires except like a tractor They have no linguistic ability aka no desire therefore they have no rights Frey Abortion 15 In the debate over the moral permissibility of abortion what do abortion and fetus mean What are the two main questions in the debate Abortion the intentional removal of a fetus Fetus human between the stages of conception to birth Two Main questions in the debate 58 o Does a human fetus have the same right to life as an adult human are they persons with a right to life o If fetuses are persons with a right to life does that mean that abortion is morally impermissible 16 What is Marquis theory neutral premise in his argument against abortion How does he argue from the premise to the claim that abortion is nearly always wrong It is wrong to
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