1. Is it more important to be a good person or to perform good acts (virtue ethics vs. action ethics)?

Action ethics are defined better as the plan to actually go out and do something, whereas virtue ethics is just saying what one believes should be done.  I think action ethics is more important than virtue ethics.  Anyone could talk about the things they want to do as a good person but never actually perform these acts.  If someone truly believes in what he or she is stating, or their virtue ethics, then he or she will actually go out and do what they say, or action ethics.  The action itself is more important because if everyone just listed what they thought was good, then nothing would actually be accomplished.  However, when someone is trying to recruit people to help for a certain cause, I think virtue ethics is more important.  This is because a person needs to fully understand what he or she is going to start promoting before they join on the team.

4. Do ecosystems matter for their own sake, or do they only matter to the extent that they impact humans (ecocentric ethics vs. anthropocentric ethics)?

I believe that ecosystems matter on their own and so do humans, however, they are both interact with each other every single second of the day.  Since the constant interactions are always there, ecocentric ethics and anthropocentric ethics are both important to live by.  I feel like I lean more towards the ecocentric ethics because the ecosystem was created before us and helps us survive.  If we continue cutting down trees at the rate we currently are at, there is going to be more carbon dioxide in the air than oxygen.  This would impact humans in a negative way but we keep doing it because trees give us positive things, like paper, houses, and fire.  Looking at the anthropocentric ethics side, I think our reading made a very valid point about when forest fires start people need to chop down trees to prevent more destruction.  Situations like this make anthropocentric ethics more important because not only would a forest fire kill humans, it would also destroy the whole ecosystem!

6. Is my own life worth more than the lives of others, the same, or less (selfishness vs. altruism)?

As stated in the reading, selfishness refers to a person who is less likely to help people and altruism describes someone who is more willing to help someone.  Personally, I believe my own life is equal to the lives of others.  Ever since I was a kid I possessed altruistic qualities because I would spend my weekends working at homeless shelters, making food for the needy, and volunteering at animal shelters.  I think that no one’s life is more important than another, including animals.  After working with multiple types of pets, one can tell that they have emotions just like humans do.  This being said, I can understand why some people are more selfish.  Sometimes people need to make decisions that put themselves before others; for example, some mothers need to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy if there are complications.  Is a mother dying and leaving her other children without a mother worth keeping the pregnancy and her and the baby dying?  I think there are some instances where people could be more altruistic but get put in such difficult situations that the selfishness comes through.