PP224 Chapter 4-6: Moral Standing
Document Summary
Environmental ethics begins when we decide to take the step outside the human sphere and contemplate seriously the possibility that things other than us might have moral standing or be moral patients. Definition: speciesism is the view that the values or interests of one species have greater weight than those of other species. We humans have traditionally believed that we are superior to other species and that our values are the only ones that count (or are real). Peter singer is a philosopher at princeton university. He has challenged our speciesism, in the following way. Racism: the view that being a member of a privileged race is necessary and sufficient for moral standing; and. Sexism: the view that being a member of a privileged gender is necessary and sufficient for moral standing. Most people have no trouble in recognizing that racism and sexism are wrong, but.
