Question

Five jumbled up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

• A. Animals have an interest in fulfilling their basic needs, but also in avoiding suffering, and thus we ought to extend moral consideration.
• B. Singer viewed himself as a utilitarian, and presents a direct moral theory concerning animal rights, in contrast to indirect positions, such as welfarist views.
• C. He argued for extending moral consideration to animals because, similar to humans, animals have certain significant interests.
• D. The event that publicly announced animal rights as a legitimate issue within contemporary philosophy was Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation text in 1975.
• E. As such, we ought to view their interests alongside and equal to human interests, which results in humans having direct moral duties towards animals.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

To determine which sentence does not fit in a coherent paragraph, we examine the logical flow and content of each sentence:

1. Sentence Analysis:

• Sentence 1: "Animals have an interest in fulfilling their basic needs, but also in avoiding suffering, and thus we ought to extend moral consideration."
• Sentence 2: "Singer viewed himself as a utilitarian, and presents a direct moral theory concerning animal rights, in contrast to indirect positions, such as welfarist views."
• Sentence 3: "He argued for extending moral consideration to animals because, similar to humans, animals have certain significant interests."
• Sentence 4: "The event that publicly announced animal rights as a legitimate issue within contemporary philosophy was Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation text in 1975."
• Sentence 5: "As such, we ought to view their interests alongside and equal to human interests, which results in humans having direct moral duties towards animals."

2. Logical Sequence:

Examining the sentences, Sentences 1, 3, and 5 discuss moral consideration for animals and align with the views of animals' interests and human responsibilities. Sentence 2 gives context to Singer's utilitarian views on animal rights, which further supports the discussion. However, Sentence 4 purely describes the historical context of Singer's work being a groundbreaking text in the philosophy of animal rights.

3. Conclusion:

Sentence 4 is focused on the historical significance rather than the thematic development of the argument presented in the other sentences. Thus, Sentence 4 is the odd one out and does not fit well within the coherent paragraph focused on the moral arguments concerning animal rights.