ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS: MIDTERM EXAM QUESTIONS

 

The midterm exam will include short-answer questions about the material we have read and discussed in this course.  Most of the questions on the exam will be chosen from among those listed below, but I do not promise that the questions will appear exactly as they do below.  I may make slight changes.  Still, this study sheet should give you a very clear idea what to study between now and the exam date. 

 

On the exam itself, you will be given a choice from a set of different questions you might address.  In preparing answers, you should plan that you will be asked to write answers to five questions on the exam itself.  You should plan to answer the question as completely and accurately as you can, given a ten-minute maximum time constraint.

 

“Ethics.” from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

1) Explain what utilitarianism is, and very briefly explain what would be relevant to a utilitarian who wanted to evaluate environmental policies.

2) Clearly state the “universality formulation” (I might ask for the ‘Humanity formulation’ instead) of Kant’s categorical imperative, and explain how one might apply it.

3) What are ‘prima facie’ duties?  Explain how one might deliberate about moral questions using a system of prima facie duties like the one Ross recommends.

 

Mill On Liberty:

1) What is Mill’s “one principle” that explains the rightful boundary of government coercion of individuals?  Briefly explain why laws prohibiting prostitution or drug use might violate Mill’s principle.

2) What is paternalism?  Give an example of a paternalistic law, and explain why Mill would object to such a law.

3) What is ‘moralism’?  Give an example of a moralistic law, and explain why Mill would object to such a law.

 

Rawls Theory of Justice

1) What is the ‘original position,’ and why does Rawls regard it as an appropriate perspective from which to choose principles of justice?

2) What is the “Equal Liberty Principle?”  Why might one think that this principle implies Mill’s harm principle?

3) Explain the Difference Principle.  Why does Rawls regard inequalities as justified when the difference principle is satisfied?

4) Briefly explain the relationship between Rawls’ original position and the Universalization formulation of Kant’s categorical imperative.

 

 

Aldo Leopold

1) What is Leopold’s ‘Key Log’ principle?  Why might one interpret this principle as misanthropic (people-hating) and how might Leopold respond?

2) What does Leopold intend to show with his account of “Odesseus returning from the wars of Troy?”  As fully as you can (under the time constraint) explain how and why Leopold thinks we should expand our conception of moral value to include “the land.”

 

Hettinger & Throop’s Critique of Leopold’s Land Ethic

1) Explain why Hettinger and Throop think that we need an alternative environmental ethic that incorporates the idea that environmental systems are not in equilibrium.

2) What is “wildness?”  Why do Hettinger and Throop think that we need to add “wildness” to Leopold’s values of “integrity, stability, and beauty?”

 

Arne Naess, Deep Ecology

1) Explain what Naess means when he claims that we should transcend the “narrow” conception of the self, and when he asserts that we should regard the “self-realization” as a fundamental value for environmental ethics.

2) What are the central tenets of "deep ecology?"  How is the "expanded sense of self" Naess recommends associated with the value of "self-realization?"

4) In class, we considered whether Naess ethics of an "expanded self" was relevantly similar to Rawls's account of choice from the original position.  Briefly explain these two views and why one might regard them as similar.  Then very briefly evaluate the comparison: Is Naess view really like Rawls's view?

 

Bookchin and Social Ecology

1) Briefly explain and critically evaluate Bookchin’s critique of deep ecology.

2) Why, according to Bookchin, should an appropriate environmental philosophy be essentially anthrocentric?

 

Guha’s “Third World Critique” of American Environmentalism

1) Explain Guha’s critique of deep ecology.

2) Why, according to Guha, is American environmentalism inappropriate when its principles are applied in the “third world?”

 

Taylor’s Biocentrism

1) What is the “biocentric outlook on nature?”  How is Taylor’s concept of ‘respect’ different from emotional attitudes (like love) we might have toward nature?

2)  Explain why Taylor believes that we all have reason to adopt a biocentric attitude of respect for nature.

 

Parker: Environmental Pragmatism

1) Explain three central tenets of "pragmatism," and their relevance to environmental philosophy.

2) In what sense is a pragmatist view "anthrocentric?"

 

Rees: Sustainable Development

1) What, according to Rees, are the features of "western society's perception of the way things are" respecting people, development, and the environment? 

2) Explain the "new paradigm" that Rees recommends, and how this paradigm is related to the "environmental footprint" idea.

 

Wolf: Intergenerational Justice

1) Which are the "obligations of justice?"

2) Compare the libertarian to the Rawlsian account of justice.

3) Compare the total and average utilitarian conceptions of 'sustainability.'

 

Locke: Property Rights

1) According to Locke, what is the process by which we acquire property rights?

2) What are the two "provisos" governing the acquisition of property?

 

Wolf: Property Rights and Intergenerational Justice

1) According to Wolf, how should we understand Locke's "enough and as good" proviso?

2) What are 'usufructuary' rights, and how is the concept of usufruct related to the problem of sustainability?