Cabrillo College Claudia Close Ethics – Philosophy 10 Spring 2012

Case Study #2: Kant & Great Apes

Read the section on Kant in our text and the attached articles from the New York Times, The

Guardian, NPR and the Great Ape Project. You may also refer to pages 676, and 711-714 in our text.

Answer the following questions. Each answer should be 1 paragraph long and each supporting

quote should be no longer than one or two short sentences and unique – you may not use the same

quote twice. In citing the quote, all you need do is indicate the page from the text. All quotes should

be from Kant’s work and not secondary commentary. The completed assignment should be two

pages long, using 12 pt. fonts and single spacing. Each question is worth 10 points and each quote

is worth 2 points for a total of 60 points. This is due on the 23rd of April.

1. For Kant, does our moral responsibility to others depend on their ability to reciprocate and

act morally responsible towards us? Briefly explain your answer.

1b. Cite a supporting quote from the text to support your answer above.

2. If Kant understood the modern genetic and neuroscientific evidence, would he consider

non-human great primates - chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos, persons?

Explain why or why not.

2b. Cite a supporting quote from the text to support your answer above.

3. The NIH has suspended all new funding for any research on chimpanzees but allows that it

would fund research if it is “be necessary for human health and that there be no other way

to accomplish it.” (New York Times) How do you think Kant would respond to this policy?

Briefly explain your answer.

3b. Cite a supporting quote from the text to support your answer above.

4. The Spanish parliament has extended human rights to apes. How do you think Kant would

respond to this action? Does it go too far or just far enough? Briefly explain your answer.

4b. Cite a supporting quote from the text to support your answer above.

5. The GAP Project calls “the exploitation of great primates in laboratories, circus,

entertainment shows and zoos … a kind of slavery, reminding what men used to do with

others of his own kind who were considered to be inferior a little bit more than one century

ago..” (GAP) Do you think Kant would agree with this metaphor? Briefly explain your

answer.

5b. Cite a supporting quote from the text to support your answer above.

Background: Case Study #2

Science

December 15, 2011

U.S. Will Not Finance New Research on

Chimps1

Tim Mueller for The New York Times

A chimpanzee at the New Iberia Research Center of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where hepatitis C research is done.

By JAMES GORMAN

The National Institutes of Health on Thursday suspended all new grants for biomedical and

behavioral research on chimpanzees and accepted the first uniform criteria for assessing the

necessity of such research. Those guidelines require that the research be necessary for human

health, and that there be no other way to accomplish it.

1 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/science/chimps-in-medical-research.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1

In making the announcement, Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the N.I.H., said that chimps,

as the closest human relatives, deserve “special consideration and respect” and that the agency

was accepting the recommendations released earlier in the day by an expert committee of the

Institute of Medicine, which concluded that most research on chimpanzees was unnecessary.

The report and the quick response by the N.I.H. do not put an end to research on chimps, but

they were claimed as victories by animal welfare groups that have long been fighting for a ban

on such research, arguing that chimps should not be subjected to experimental use. They said

that the move was a step toward eventually ending chimp research, already a tiny segment of

federal research.

Jeffrey Kahn, chairman of the Institute of Medicine committee that produced the report and a

professor of bioethics and public policy at Johns Hopkins University, said the group’s

recommendations would make it harder to use chimps in research.

“What we did was establish a set of rigorous criteria that set the bar quite high for use of

chimpanzees in biomedical or behavioral research,” he said. He also said that, in effect, the

writing was on the wall: “One of the important themes in the committee report is that there is a

trajectory toward decreasing necessity for the use of chimps in biomedical and behavioral

research.”

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, which is strongly opposed

to any experimentation on chimpanzees, said, “We’re tremendously encouraged.” He said the

report’s “overarching conclusion was that chimps are largely unnecessary” for research, and that

the report and N.I.H. action could influence two other continuing efforts to stop research on

chimps.

One is the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act of 2011, now before both houses of

Congress. Another is a petition before the federal Fish and Wildlife Service to declare captive

chimpanzees endangered, as wild chimpanzees are. The exemption has allowed research to

continue and permits the use of chimpanzees in entertainment and as pets.

“‘Endangered’ stops all those uses,” Mr. Pacelle said, and the report’s skeptical assessment of

the value of chimps in research would provide support for the Fish and Wildlife Service to

categorize all chimps as endangered.

At the same time, people involved in chimp research said they, too, were happy.

Dr. Thomas Rowell, director of the New Iberia Research Center in New Iberia, La., which

houses 471 chimpanzees, more than any other center in the country, also said he was “quite

pleased” with the report. “It just confirms what we’ve been saying all along in regard to the

chimpanzee model for advancing public health research,” he said, referring to the necessity of

the chimpanzee for some research on public health.

Dr. Collins said the N.I.H. would set up a working group to decide how to carry out the

recommendations. Until the group finishes its deliberations, no new grants would be awarded

and all N.I.H. chimpanzees that are not already enrolled in experiments would not be involved in

any further research projects. Dr. Collins did not offer a timeline or say how many chimpanzees

were currently involved in research.

Use of chimpanzees has already been waning, partly because it is expensive. The report covers

only chimps owned or supported by the government, 612 of a total of 937 chimps available for

research in the United States. Only a few are in experiments at any one time.

The committee identified two areas where it said the use of chimpanzees could be necessary.

One is research on a preventive vaccine for hepatitis C. The committee could not agree on

whether this research fit the criteria and so left that decision open.

In the second area, research on immunology involving monoclonal antibodies, the committee

concluded that experimenting on chimps was not necessary because of new technology, but

because the new technology was not widespread, projects now under way should be allowed to

reach completion.

The report offered two sets of criteria, one for biomedical experiments, which it said could be

considered necessary when there was no other way to do the research — with other animals, lab

techniques or human subjects — and if not doing the research would “significantly slow or

prevent important advancements to prevent, control and/or treat life-threatening or debilitating

conditions.”

For behavioral and genomic experiments, the report recommended that the research should be

done on chimps only if the animals are cooperative, and in a way that minimizes pain and

distress. It also said that the studies should “provide otherwise unattainable insight into

comparative genomics, normal and abnormal behavior, mental health, emotion or cognition.”

The report also recommended that chimpanzees be housed in conditions that are behaviorally,

socially and physically appropriate. All United States primate research centers are already

accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, and

Dr. Kahn said that this accreditation meets the committee’s recommendation.

That was one area where the Humane Society disagreed with the report. “That language,” said

Mr. Pacelle, referring to the requirements for adequate cages and enclosures, “was disappointing

to us,” because it could mean that chimps that were not in experiments would stay at research

centers.

“I’m arguing for the movement of all of them to the sanctuaries,” he said, where large open

enclosures are much more common.

The N.I.H. commissioned the report after an outcry over its plan in 2010 to move a colony of

chimpanzees it owned out of semiretirement in Alamogordo, N.M., and back into medical

research at a primate center in Texas.

The N.I.H. responded in January 2011, by announcing it would leave the chimps in New Mexico

for the time being, and by commissioning the Institute of Medicine to do the study released on

Thursday. Dr. Collins confirmed that for now, the Alamogordo chimps would stay where they

were.

Spanish parliament approves 'human rights'

for apes2

Lee Glendinning

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 June 2008 08.57 EDT

A female chimpanzee holds her one-month-old baby. Photograph: Tom Gilbert/AP

Great apes should have the right to life and freedom, according to a resolution passed in the

Spanish parliament, in what could become landmark legislation to enshrine human rights for

chimpanzees, gorillas, orang-utans and bonobos.

The environmental committee in the Spanish parliament has approved resolutions urging the

country to comply with the Great Apes Project, founded in 1993, which argues that "non-human

hominids" should enjoy the right to life, freedom and not to be tortured.

The project was started by the philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri, who argued that

the ape is the closest genetic relative to humans – that it displays emotions such as love, fear,

anxiety and jealousy – and should be protected by similar laws.

2 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/26/humanrights.animalwelfare/print

The resolutions have cross-party support and it is thought they will become law, meaning that

potential experiments on apes in Spain will be banned within a year, according to a Reuters

report.

"This is a historic day in the struggle for animal rights and in defense of our evolutionary

comrades which will doubtless go down in the history of humanity," Pedro Pozas, the Spanish

director of the Great Apes Project, said.

"We have no knowledge of great apes being used in experiments in Spain, but there is currently

no law preventing that from happening.''

Using apes in circuses, television commercials or filming will also be banned and while housing

apes in Spanish zoos, of which there are currently 315, will remain legal, supporters of the bill

have said the conditions in which most of them live will need to improve substantially.

In 1999, scientists and lawyers petitioned New Zealand's parliament to pass a bill conferring

"rights" on chimpanzees and other primates. The government gave the great apes something less

than human rights, but also something more practical: legal protection from animal

experimentation.

The first country to take such a decision was Britain: Home Office guidelines now forbid

experiments on chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas.

A Famous Gorilla Plays The Recorder, And We All May Learn Something3

February 2, 2012

by BARBARA J KING

3 http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/02/02/146195395/a-famous-gorilla-plays-the-recorder-and-we-all-may-learn-something

Koko with a recorder

Ronald H. Cohn/The Gorilla Foundation

Koko the gorilla is world-famous for her ability to communicate with humans using phrases in

American Sign Language, and for her gentle play with pet cats. Now, a new study on Koko's play

with wind instruments shows that she skillfully controls how she breathes.

That's a knockout conclusion because scientists have thought that humans alone, out of all the

primates, can gain skillful, voluntary control over the act of breathing.

Think of blowing out candles on a birthday cake, or powerfully pushing air through a trumpet to

play music. It's usually argued that skilled breathing like this originated only in the primate

lineage at the point when specialized anatomy made speech possible.

Koko, of course, being a gorilla, cannot speak; she has no specialized anatomy for speech. Yet

she does control her breathing in unusually precise ways. I'm always fascinated when an animal

does something that she is supposed to be unable to do. And I think Koko's abilities have

something to tell us about how we too may "grow" skills that may not come naturally to us.

The Koko study was conducted by Marcus Perlman, Francine G. Patterson and Ronald H. Cohn.

Lead researcher Perlman is a cognitive psychologist with a recent Ph.D. from the University of

California-Santa Cruz and a research associate at The Gorilla Foundation. (Along with Joanne E.

Tanner, I'm a co-author on a forthcoming paper of Perlman's on gestural patterns in a mother-

infant pair of zoo gorillas.)

Using a series of specific definitions and measurements, Perlman et al. coded videotapes of Koko

playing with wind instruments like recorders, harmonicas and party favor whistles. They found

38 sequences from 17 different playing bouts to work with. The key result: When Koko plays

these instruments, she adopts a pattern of breathing statistically different than her normal one.

In both frequency and forcefulness, she alters her breathing in a volitional way.

Though Koko is the first gorilla to demonstrate voluntary breath control, Perlman et al. don't

claim she's the only nonhuman ape to do so. The zoo-living orangutan Bonnie, for instance,

learned to whistle after observing her human caretakers.

These captive actions challenge conclusions reached by studying fossils of extinct human

ancestors. One influential paper suggests, for instance, that only late in evolutionary history did

muscles and nerves allow for fine control of breathing, and thus, speech.

Koko, though, is immersed in a human environment; when she plays with instruments, she is

rewarded with praise and occasionally with food. Could her skills have any meaning in an

evolutionary context?

Perlman et al. note that free-ranging orangutans produce different sounds in different groups,

suggesting a role for learning and cultural transmission. Wild chimpanzees vocalize differently

according to which apes are around to listen; when they stealthily patrol their territory's

boundaries, they choose to go silent. Some degree of fine breath control is certainly involved in

these cases.

I particularly appreciate Perlman's urging, however, that we look at this whole matter in another

way: It's not as if human children show evidence of innate breath control. Rather, just like Koko

does, they learn breath control through shared cultural routines with their caretakers and play

partners.

These cultural routines may differ across cultures. People like me, who grew up in the United

States, learned as kids how to blow out those birthday candles and blow into that trumpet — and

also how to hold our breath underwater. Gradually, through traditions and games shared with

others, our skilled breathing comes to feel natural.

This is an embodied, ecological perspective on skill emergence. Through it, we come to see that

it's not only skills like language and tool-making that flourish via shared social practice, but also

actions like skilled breathing that might at first be attributed wholly to biology.

What a great point to keep in mind as we surround our children and, yes, our adult selves too,

with ever-varied physical and mental challenges that may "grow" our skills. We may surprise

ourselves by what we can learn to do — against all expectations.

GAP Project4

GAP is an international movement that aims to defend the rights of the non-human great

primates - chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos, our closest relatives in the animal

kingdom. The main rights are: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty and the

prohibition of torture. GAP Project Brazil began its activities on 2000 and nowadays has four

chimpanzees sanctuaries affiliated to it. The majority of the chimps kept in the sanctuaries were

rescued after years of mistreating and low quality life caused by humans in circus, zoos or

entertainment activities. Nowadays GAP Project Brazil is the headquarters of GAP Project

International

Mission and vision From the biological point of view, between two human beings there can be a difference of 0.5%

in the DNA. Between a man and a chimpanzee this difference is only 1.23%. This similarity is

proved, for instance, with the fact that chimpanzees can donate blood to humans, and vice-versa.

Today it’s also known that chimpanzees, bonobos and men had an ancestor in common two

million years ago.

Considering these facts, the exploitation of great primates in laboratories, circus, entertainment

shows and zoos can be considered a kind of slavery, reminding what men used to do with others

of his own kind who were considered to be inferior a little bit more than one century ago. And

this exploitation is followed by a big drop on the number of great primates in the African and

4 http://www.greatapeproject.org/en-US

Asian forests, their natural habitats, which causes impacts on the environmental balance of the

ecosystems.

GAP Brazil defends the rights of the great primates to live in liberty in their natural habitats. If

this right is not respected and they become mistreating victims, probably it won’t be able to

release them in the forests. Consequently, the mission turns to provide the best quality of life and

state of welfare for the animals in captivity. At the sanctuaries, chimpanzees are treated of

physical – mutilation and teeth extraction – and psychological traumas and stress caused by a life

in the cage. They have the chance to recover from the bad traumas, to form social groups and

even to reproduce, as they do in nature.

“A chimpanzee is not a pet and cannot be used as an object for fun or scientific experiment. He

or she thinks, develops affection, hates, suffers, learns and even transmits knowledge. To sum it

up, they are just like us. The only difference is that they don’t speak, but they communicate

through gestures, sounds and facial expressions. We need to guarantee their rights to life and to

liberty”, explains Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian, the founder of GAP Brazil and Director of GAP

International since 2006.

In Brazil there is an advanced legislation that protects the native fauna, but does not protect the

exotic animals, who become submitted to greed and cruelty of men that uses them with

economical purposes. One of the objectives of GAP Brazil is to extend the Brazilian fauna law to

a World fauna legislation.

General Suggestions for Writing Case Studies5

How not to write your paper:

I. The Paragraph Authors often complain that the most difficult sentence to write is the first one. Your opening sentence should tell your reader your thesis. Then you just need to answer the question as thoroughly and succinctly as possible given the length allowed. Look at the following sample case study question and response.

Sample Question:

1. Tony Hayward was the chief executive of oil giant BP, the leaseholder of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig when it exploded April 20, 2010. During this time he returned to England to participate in an elite Yacht Race and on May 31st, six weeks after the spill began, Mr. Hayward uttered on camera, “I’d like my life back.” In one paragraph, explain whether Ayn Rand would have supported Hayward’s actions and comments.

1b. Cite a supporting quote from the text to support your answer above.

A good response:

1. Ayn Rand would not have supported ex-CEO of BP, Tony Hayward’s actions or comments during the Deep Water Horizon Gulf disaster. Ayn Rand supports the idea that we have obligations only to the pursuit of our own happiness. This does not imply that we should gratify any and all desires we may have. Rand is primarily interested in those who are capable of innovation and invention – of excellence. Their happiness is not linked to merely making money or to the pursuit of witless pleasures. Hayward’s indulgence in yacht racing, unconsidered public remarks and incompetence in his management of the oil spill and the subsequent media fallout did not result in his eventual happiness. Rand argues for the freedom from self-sacrifice in order to excel and become a powerful person of value. Her idea is to

5 Please note that these guidelines are for my class assignments. Individual instructors may have other format preferences and

you should consult with your teacher for the details before completing your assignment.

avoid becoming a sacrificial animal. Hayward certainly, in pursuing momentary pleasures, sacrificed his career and long-term pursuits. In the end, Hayward was fired from his BP position and transferred to Russia; not a country particularly well known for yacht racing. 1b. “When you felt proud of the rail of the John Galt Line…what sort of men did you think of? Did you want to see that Line used by your equals – by giants of productive energy such as Ellis Wyatt, whom it would help to reach higher and still higher achievements of their own? Yes, said Reardon eagerly.” (p.220)

II. Format You do not need to re-type the question. Please number each response corresponding to the assigned questions. Place the corresponding quote below each response labeled appropriately – see example above.

III. Tone/Voice Ever since George Carlin pointed out that “using your own words” would result in a

private and hence meaningless expression, I’ve had to give up on the phrase, however a certain degree of originality is still important. Your task is to explain a concept as if you were the Teaching Assistant for this class. If you simply repeat the text or my lecture, you haven’t helped your imaginary student. You need to clarify the argument/concept in a way that demonstrates that you really understand it and can express the same ideas in a way that is different than has already been explained by the text or by me.

IV. Quotes Quoting is a way of supporting your interpretation of an argument or theory. Relevance to your response and to the question asked is critical. Quotes can be edited but be careful not to take the quote out of context, thus altering the intent of the author. The length of the quote must be appropriate to the length of the assignment: short papers require shorter quotes. All quotes must come from the original author’s works, neither from the secondary commentary of the author of our text nor from my lectures or power points. Quotes need only be cited with the page in our text where it was found (see example above).

V. Length Part of the criteria for success is efficient use of the space allowed. If you write a single sentence for a one/third page assignment, you have not satisfied this criterion. However, this is not an invitation to use the additional space for stream-of-consciousness or irrelevant information not pertinent to the assigned issue. If you are having difficulties with the length, it is usually because you have not recognized or developed sufficiently the various issues involved. Conversely, if your draft is too long, you need to whittle it down to just the relevant essentials, perhaps editing out the anecdotes or redundancies; more is not always better! I am very willing to help if you submit drafts sufficiently before the due date.

Standards (Rubrics) for Grading Case Studies

Excellent (100-90% of points):

Well organized with strong structure: The paper provides adequate context and the paragraphs flow logically from one to the next with each paragraph taking on just one task. By “logical flow,” I mean that you should demonstrate how and why one premise leads to the next and directly relates to the conclusion.

Clear focus No irrelevant or “garden path” excursions. The paper answers what the question is asking and keeps strictly to those issues.

Complete – Fully answers the question and/or includes all relevant premises You will not get full credit if you answer only part of the question even if that part is really good! The excellent paper includes all the relevant premises – with no logical leaps or missing supports. The excellent answer is as thorough as possible making the most effective use of the space allowed.

Texturally correct – Stays true to the author’s intent/argument While we don’t usually refer to philosophy answers as “right” or “wrong” (except on your objective exams!), strong

mischaracterizations are possible. The excellent characterization of an argument is as close to the original intent

as possible.

Clear – Explains the answer comprehensibly The primary task of this assignment is to demonstrate that you have understood a theory or argument by explaining it clearly. The best papers will make something clearer – more understandable without oversimplifying or mischaracterizing the point

Effective use of language I value straightforward, clear writing with no undefined jargon, tortuous grammar or derivative language. I will not be awarding points for flowery style or effusive jargon. This means using ordinary, garden-variety language, which is as simple and straightforward as possible. This also means that you need to be using your own “voice” and not quoting or closely paraphrasing my lectures or the texts. The excellent paper cites all quotes and close paraphrasing and supports those with supplementary explanations.

Well Supported Your central claims should be supported with reference to the text. These supports should be relevant and of appropriate length to the assignment – short assignments imply very short, pithy quotes. Quotes must be taken from the philosopher’s own works rather than from the secondary commentary or from lecture.

Demonstrates insight into the issue I must admit that this is the most difficult to explain. The excellent paper will demonstrate a certain level of discernment or understanding which goes beyond just explaining the argument. Insight means that the paper documents the student really understanding what the issue is all about. To a certain extent, the student has taken ownership of the concepts and has presented an explanation that is uniquely their own.

Good (89-80% points) The good paper will demonstrate all the above qualities but perhaps to a lesser degree or, will demonstrate some of the above qualities excellently, but not all of the qualities will be presented at a consistently high level.

Satisfactory (79-70% points)

The satisfactory paper will present all of the above qualities but not as strongly as the good paper or, some qualities may be stronger with some not as strong. Insight is not usually present. Needs Work (69-60% points) This paper is weak on many of the desired qualities. Really Needs Work – Pretty Much Unacceptable (59-0% points) This paper presents few if any of the desired qualities.