Paper Assignment: CoyoteWorld
Human beings use animals in a variety of ways: for food, clothing, scientific testing, and entertainment. Gabriela Cowperthwaite's documentary Blackfish (2013)explores the ethics of using animals for entertainment; in particular, it focuses on SeaWorld's use of orca whales like Tilikum (i.e., Shamu).
Now suppose that the university was considering opening its own animal amusement park (called CoyoteWorld) on the north side of campusin order to generate revenue. Imagine at this proposed park the university was planning on capturingwild animals such as coyotes, mountain lions, eagles, etc. in the surrounding mountains and housing them in small concrete enclosures. The animals would be taught to perform tricks in order to attract visitors to the park.
Would you morally approve or disapprove of the university's proposed amusement park?
Your paper should carefully address the following questions:
1. Would ReneDescartes approve of CoyoteWorld?(Why/Why not?)
2. Would Carl Cohen approve of CoyoteWorld?(Why/Why not?)
3. Would Tom Regan approve of CoyoteWorld? (Why/Why not?)
4. Would you approve of CoyoteWorld?(Why/Why not?)
In discussing whether you approve or disapprove of CoyoteWorld, be sure to (a) develop your own account of moral consideration, (b) discuss whether your account of moral considerationcommits you to approving or disapproving of a place called"HumanWorld": imagine extremely intelligent Martians come to earth and begin kidnapping human beings to use for entertainment purposes. They open up HumanWorld amusement parks and profit financially. These parks cause human beings great suffering, but the Martians derive pleasure from our suffering. Would such parks be morally permissible on your view? And (c) raise and respond to objections to your account of moral consideration.