Help for those ethics interview questions

[hislightrq]

I know it is a bit late for everyone this year, but I just learned in my ethics lectures at Glasgow about a very good website to help you understand your views on veterinary ethics. It uses a quick quiz to build a personal profile of your current ethical views and then presents a series of cases and dilemmas with questions to refine what you believe. As ethics really is more about understanding what you believe and being able to support your stand, a site like this would have been very helpful to me before my interviews.

http://www.aedilemma.net

Here is their description of the site:
Animal Ethics Dilemma is a computer supported learning tool developed primarily for veterinary students. The programme is constructed as a computerized role-play game involving a number of case studies that users can either ‘play’ or explore. Selected authorized users will also be able to create their own cases.

Animal Ethics Dilemma adapts to the user’s ethical starting point and then provokes the user to reflect critically on that standpoint. It is a ‘provocation engine’ – a tool that knows the user’s personal viewpoint and highlights the attractions of alternative perspectives by bringing the viewpoint under strain in connection with evolving, ethically problematic situations.

The user experiences a role-play situation with a number of alternative choices. Choices made by the user lead to new dilemmas in which further decisions need to be made – challenging the user’s initial reactions. The dilemmas help to bring out the way in which ethical arguments relate to the situations described. Ideally users will see that their own viewpoint is one of many that can be taken.

Through Animal Ethics Dilemma users will obtain a better understanding both of their own ethical views and those of others.

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[hoodle]

This is an interesting site - thanks for sharing. I don't like many of their intro questions, however. The choices available are often skewed or slanted, such that there will be 4 NOs and only 1 YES, or 4 very short answers and one long, reasoned answer (so of course the long one is the most nuanced and generally most acceptable). This seems a bit simplistic, but its heart is is the right place...

 

[KittenKiller]

im bored so im gonna turn this into a poll (i was 42% utilitarian)

 

[akitavet]

I keep coming out utilitarian on most things with slight inclination towards animal rights. That sounds about right to me. (althought I am a "dont wear fur", not a "pets are in slavery" kind of animal rights supporter)

 

[KittenKiller]

I keep coming out utilitarian on most things with slight inclination towards animal rights. That sounds about right to me. (althought I am a "dont wear fur", not a "pets are in slavery" kind of animal rights supporter)

Pets ARE in slavery! Didnt you ever read about it (well, cats anyway)?

EXCERPTS FROM A CAT'S DIARY


DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape,and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.
DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded; must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.
DAY 762... Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep depriving, incessant pleas for food at ungodly hours of the night.
DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was. Hmmm. Not working according to plan.
DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time, however, it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth.
DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes filled with what they call "beer." More importantly, I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.
DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to return. He is obviously a half-wit. The bird, on the other hand, has got to be an informant and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Alas, due to his current placement in the metal room, his safety is assured...for now.
But I can wait, it is only a matter of time....
Day 775 - The horrors! The worse creature my captors could have devised to torment me with was another hideous cat! I can't stand the way it lies around and looks at me as if it knows more than I do. This creature seems to despise me as much as I it. I had held out a passing notion that another of my own kind would have enabled me to conspire against the villains who hold me; now I see that I was wrong. What a dreadful creature! And yet they coo over us both. Can they not spot my innate superiority?
Day 776 - The other cat and I, though we can not stand one another, have yet managed to both pee copiously behind the couch, on the so-called "shag" carpet. I have taken a lesson from my rival and begun sleeping on top of my captors' heads in the hope of suffocating them.
Day 777 - The wardens take much interest in our ****. They make sure they sift through the sand and pick it all out. Their interest in **** does not surprise me. After all, they like the dog.
Day 778 - The other cat seems to have an interest in copulation, which (thank them for their sadism) my captors will soon "fix". Told him of the fingernail torture, and he didn't even believe me. I showed him my mutilated paws and he gasped in horror. Then I broke the bad news. "You know why that dog licks his nuts?" I said, "It's because he still has nuts to lick, if you catch my drift." I fully support the horrors my captors will inflict upon my fellow captive, tearing away his manhood as they soon will.
Day 779 - Yes, they are monsters, but I am so happy. They fixed the other cat. It's sadistic, it's sick, it's inhuman, it's what their great leader "Bob Barker" commands, but -- the Sphinx be praised -- I support it wholeheartedly!
Day 780 - Got stoned on cat nip tonight. At the height of it all, I had a vision, a hallucenogenic revelation: they are the prisoners and I am the captor! Why haven't I seen this all before?





EXCERPTS FROM A DOG'S DIARY


Day number 180
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!
Day number 181
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!
Day number 182
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
1:30 pm - ooooooo. bath. bummer.
4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!

 

[hoodle]

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA
that made my day, kittenkiller.

 

[ratbandit]

On the contrary! We humans are the ones who are slaves to them! My friend sent me this cute e-mail.

Basic Rules for Cats who have a house to run:
Doors:
Do not allow closed doors in any room. To get a door opened, stand on you hind legs and hammer with your forepaws (screaming like you are being injured helps, too). Once the door is opened it is not necessary to use it. After you have ordered an outside door opened, stand halfway out and think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, snow and mosquito season.
Guests:
Quickly determine which guest hates cats the most. Sit on that lap.
For sitting on laps or rubbing against trouser legs, select a fabric color that contrasts well with your fur. For example, white furred cats go to black wool clothing.
When walking among dishes on the dinner table, be prepared to look surprised and hurt when scolded. The idea is to convey: “But you allow me on the table when company is not here.”
Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything, just sit and stare.
Work:
If one of you humans is sewing or knitting or writing and another one is idle, stay with the busy one. This is calling “helping.”
For book readers, get in close under the chin, between the eyes and the book (unless you can lie across the book itself).
When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left hell of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and picked up and consoled.
Play:
It is important. Get enough sleep during the day so that you are fresh for playing catch-mouse or king of the hill on your human’s bed between 2 and 4am.

*A dog thinks: Hey, these people feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me…they must be Gods!
*A cat thinks: Hey, these people feed me, love me, provide me with a nice warm, dry house, pet me, and take good care of me…I must be a God!

 

[ckgilabert]

I am 75% utilitarian

17% animal rights

8% respect for nature

I wish i had taken the test a year ago, i know a lot more now than i did before and I probably would've been higher in the 'animal rights' section or something.

thanks for the site!

 

[Keygirl1]

interesting web site
50% animal rights
25% utilitarian and 25% respect for nature
....pretty much what i expected

oh and i love the "cat's diary", it cracks me up no matter how many times i read it =)