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Philosophy
291
Environmental Ethics
Winter Quarter 2001
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Take-Home Midterm
Instructions Please select four of the following questions
to answer. Your typed, double-spaced, answers are due to Prof. Mills (either
in his mailbox, or to him in person) by 4:00 p.m. on Friday 2 February.
You are on your honor not to discuss these questions with any person other
than Prof. Mills. You may consult your books and your notes, but
the answers you write must be your own. If you cite or refer to a passage
from one of the authors, please give the appropriate reference. There
is no length limit for these answers, but I am trusting you to edit yourself.
Please stick to the question.
Your responses will be graded on clarity, accuracy, sensitivity to the
philosophical issues, as well as general organizational and grammatical
issues.
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Do you agree with Lynn White that it is our Judeo-Christian dominance model
that has led to our ecological crises? Compare Genesis 1-3 with White’s
analysis. Is his account a correct interpretation of the text? Why or why
not?
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Compare Regan’s position on animal rights to Singer’s position. Where do
they agree? Where do they disagree? What reasons do they give in support
of their positions? Use the case of test drugs on animals to explain the
differences between their views.
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Can Jamieson’s arguments against zoos be applied to our owning pets? Why
or why not? Note that Jamieson offers multiple reasons against zoos—which
of those (if any) can be extended to the case of pet ownership? You may
also have to think about the reasons in favor of pet ownership to see if
those reasons withstand Jamieson-style criticisms.
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Some have criticized Leopold’s ecocentric ethic as being a sort of fascist
view. Explain what Leopold’s position is, and why it seems open to this
objection. What does it mean to say that Leopold’s position is a sort of
fascist view? Does Leopold have a defense to this objection? What is it?
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Critically discuss the strengths and weaknesses of ‘deep ecology’ and ‘ecosophy’.