The Essentials of Animal Ethics

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A 50-minute lesson

1. 5 min
   Opening. Ask the question and let the class answer without correcting them: Which topic in the collection do you want to understand first? Follow the link in the corresponding table.
2. 15 min
   Reading. Introduction (2 min read) and Attempts to Justify Disregarding Animals (5 min read). For younger classes, read the “For kids” layer: This book is the map of the whole collection. It shows each discussion quickly and tells you which book to read for more.
3. 15 min
   Discussion.

   • Which topic in the collection do you want to understand first? Follow the link in the corresponding table. (Introduction)
   • Which of these justifications do you hear most often? What answer would you give? (Attempts to Justify Disregarding Animals)
   • Which of these four arguments do you find strongest? Why? (The Case for Considering All Sentient Beings)
   • Which of these criticisms have you heard before? Does the table's answer convince you? (The Debate on the Sentience Criterion)
4. 10 min
   Activity. Project the A Year to Scale tool for the class. If all animals were one year, how many seconds would the exploited ones be? Ask each group to justify its choices.
5. 5 min
   Wrap-up. Each person writes one sentence about what changed in their thinking. Compare it with the volume summary: A schematic guide to the whole collection: each debate laid out in tables of "attempted justification" and "criticism," with pointers to where the topic is explored in depth. It is the best way in and the best review.

Exercise sheet

1. What does "(I, ch. 8 and 9)" in the tables indicate?

   1. That the topic is explored in depth in chapters 8 and 9 of Volume I
   2. The page of the book
   3. The number of authors

2. Who is the volume meant for?

   1. People who have never read about animal ethics and people who want to recap
   2. Only specialists
   3. Only children

3. What is the criticism common to almost all the attempted justifications?

   1. They do not explain why the criterion used is relevant to moral consideration
   2. They are too modern
   3. They are too scientific

4. What analogy does the table use to answer the argument from ethics as a human activity?

   1. Requiring patients to be doctors in order to be treated
   2. Requiring drivers to be mechanics
   3. Requiring readers to be writers

5. Which principle suggests "erring on the side of caution" with beings whose sentience is uncertain?

   1. The benefit of the doubt
   2. Tradition
   3. Desert

6. Which of these is NOT one of the priority criteria compatible with equal consideration mentioned in the table?

   1. The worse the situation, the higher the priority
   2. The greater the number of victims, the higher the priority
   3. The more similar to humans, the higher the priority

7. Is the sentience criterion committed to utilitarianism?

   1. Yes
   2. No, it is incorporated by a wide variety of theories
   3. Only to egoism

8. Why does biological life not seem to have intrinsic value?

   1. Because we would see nothing good in remaining a living body with no experiences at all
   2. Because life is bad
   3. Because only plants are alive

9. Two children are going on an outing tomorrow, but only one understands the concept of "tomorrow." If both die today...

   1. only the one who understands is harmed
   2. both are harmed
   3. neither is harmed

10. Does belief in life after death justify killing animals who have good lives?

    1. Yes
    2. No, because of the uncertainty about the afterlife and because we know what their present life would be like
    3. Only some

The lesson plan and exercises are a study layer written for this site. The texts read are by Luciano Carlos Cunha.