Module 9: 2 Factor Egalitarianism

• egalitarianism: all people in society should have equal rights from birth
• what is egalitarianism in a political context?

  desirability of political, economic and social equality
• how was egalitarianism relevant in the american and french revolutions?

  fighting against monarchy, left out women and people of color
• which activists believed in species egalitarianism?

  Singer and Regan
• species egalitarianism: humans and animals have equal interests and rights because both are sentient
• how is species egalitarianism different from 2 factor egalitarianism?

  only factors in level of interest
• 2-factor egalitarianism: weighs conflicts of human and animal interests by importance of interest and psychological complexity
• what are the 3 types of interests in 2-factor egalitarianism?

  1. basic interests
  2. serious interests
  3. peripheral interests
• what are the 2 types of basic interests?

  B1: matters of life and death

  B2: absence of pain/sever suffering
• serious interests: matters of comfort and happiness, can survive without but difficult or costly to well-being
• peripheral interests: matters of luxury
• how are types of interests used to solve moral conflicts?

  • permissible to sacrifice basic interest of individual with lower psychological capacity for serious interest
  • permissible to sacrifice peripheral interest for basic interest in individuals with same psychological capacity
• what are the 3 degrees of sentience?

  1. social consciousness
  2. self awareness
  3. not self aware
• social consciousness: awareness of important social issues, self reflection and higher cognitive though
• what is an example of a socially conscious species?

  humans
• self awareness: awareness of own individuality or personality, biographical perspective (remembers past events)
• what is an example of a self aware species?


  elephants
• not self aware: awareness of pain without capacity to learn from experience, responding to external stimuli only
• how are degrees of sentience used to solve moral conflicts?

  morally permissible to sacrifice interests of individual with lower psychological capacities
• why is 2 factor egalitarinism not speciesist?

  humans usually match/exceed animal's physiological capacity
• opportunity cost: opportunities forgone, used in weighing death, pain and deprivation
• is opportunity cost usually higher in humans or animals?

  humans
• humans typically have greater prospects of satisfaction