Basics
- Exam 2 is on Nov 4. We will review on Nov 2.
- It's worth 30% of your grade.
- The exam will consist of 4-5 questions and you will have some choice of which to answer.
- Each question will have 3 parts
- You should plan on writing for the whole 50-55 minutes
- Please do not ask questions during the exam! They are rarely answerable and are disruptive to other students.
- Question 1: (a) Explain one defense of animals as food. (b) Clarify how this defense is different from one other defense (either from Module 4 or Module 1). (c) Make an objection to this defense.
- Use the list of posts (with topic highlights) below...follow the links!
- Use your own notes.
- Reread articles as needed.
- Review RR questions and your answers
- Think about your feedback on Exam 1
Module 3. Animals and humans: the contemporary debate
9.23 Do animals have moral standing? Argument from marginal cases (Singer & Regan); Carruthers' contractualism; his conclusions about rational humans, marginal cases, and animals; how he would respond to the argument from marginal cases
9.25 Do animals have moral standing? Peter Carruthers on why animal cruelty is bad; thought experiments in Carruthers, e.g. Ingrid the Astronaut and Lazy Jane the Doctor
9:28 Political categories: citizens. Donaldson & Kymlicka (D&K)'s parallel between human political categories and animal categories; why think of domesticated animals as citizens?; what are the rights and responsibilities of animal citizens?; access to public spaces and restaurants; non-exploitative and exploitative animal work
9.30 Political categories: wild sovereigns and liminal denizens D&K on liminal denizens; examples: mice, Canada geese; D&K on wild sovereigns; examples: rutting elk, struggling Eagles at White Rock Lake, icelandic pufflings
10.2 Higher and lower animals Shelly Kagan's key concepts -- Unitarianism, Deontology, Utilitarianism, Hierarchy; how to add hierarchy to Utilitarianism; how to add hierarchy to Deontology; which capacities make a difference to moral status; three troubling implications of the hierarchy view--superior beings, marginal cases, normal variation
10.5 Higher and lower animals Another crucial Kagan concept -- practical realism; how Kagan uses practical realism in his argument for how many different moral statuses there are; his classification of different species; how Kagan uses practical realism to solve the problems about marginal cases and normal variation; what he says about superior beings; Kagan's animal advocacy
Module 4. Using animals as food
10.7 Using animals as food: factory farming & reformed/humane farming; there is a lot of information here;. You should be able to pick one food and explain three types of animal farming behind it; for example, if the food is turkey, you should be able to explain standard factory farming of turkeys + reformed factory farming of turkeys + humane farming of turkeys; you should also be aware of slaughter issues.
10.9 Arguments for vegetarianism James Rachels' taste argument; should be able to lay out the main premises; how this argument differs from arguments made by Singer and Regan; you should be able to articulate an objection.
10.14 The causal inefficacy defense Mark Budolfson's key concepts: efficacy, threshold, essentiality of harm; cases where we have efficacy and lack efficacy; why he thinks Singer's threshold argument is wrong; why we lack efficacy when it comes to FF products; what he means by "slack at each link"; part II of his article--products that are essentially harmful; bottomline: what animal products are ethically permissible according to Budolfson?; you should be able to articulate an objection.
10.16 The humane farming/existence defense Nick Zangwill's argument that we should eat humanely farmed animals...it's not just permissible but a duty; what he says about the pleasurable lives of humanely farmed animals; what he says about eating dogs and people; you should be able to articulate an objection.
10.19 The freegan defense Bruckner key concepts: freegan, unnecessary harm, accidental deaths; basic moral principle (it's wrong to cause or support the causing of unnecessary harm); why he thinks omnivores violate this basic moral principle the most; why vegans also violate the principle (because of accidental deaths of field animals); you should be able to articulate an objection.
10.21 State fair and rodeo Rollin's admiration for ranchers and cowboys; the rodeo event that concerns him most.
Module 5. More uses of animals
10.23 Animal companions The debate about having pets; Francione and Charlton (F&C) on domesticated animals as pathetic (why?) and extinction as a goal; Donaldson and Kymlicka's alternative view of domesticated animals.
10.26 Outdoor cats, bringing back pets Abbate key concepts: animal wellbeing, hedonism, physiological and ethological pleasures; infliction and deprivation, prima facie duties; why she thinks cat guardians have a prima facie duty to allow cats outside; why it's just a prima facie duty; what about wild animals who may be killed by outdoor cats?
10.28 Using animals for research Singer's examples of cruel and pointless animal research; examples of seemingly worthwhile research; Singer's position on animal research; the Animal Welfare Act.
10.30 Using animals for research Engel's commonsense case against animal research; what is the commonsense principle he invokes?; the extrapolation problem; how Carbone responds to arguments like Engel's.