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Is it ethical to eat meat?


Guest kenshi64

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I sincerely apologies in advance if I repeated any of the points I make. 
 
Points regarding if it is "ethical" to eat meat:
Egoistically, it is ethically correct. Altruistically, perhaps not. Kantian ethics does not exactly consider animals as part of "humanity" so it probably will define animal consumption to be ethical. Utilitarian approach it all gets quite messy with animal "sentience" added to the equation, so lets assume two scenarios; a) the decision making individuals do not consider animals as for maximized happiness. In this case, animal consumption really would not be a problem if you consider the fact that vegetarian population is often minority. In case b), the decision making individuals do consider animals as for maximized happiness, animal consumption will probably be considered unethical for reasons stated in previous post. The happiness of survival would probably outweigh the happiness for meat consumption. 
 
Also, although this may not entirely be pertinent, but to what extent is eating plants more ethical? Is this all a question of which is less ethically wrong? I personally do not see why eating plants would be any better than eating animals other than greater efficiency from energy conversion between tropic level and less intuitive guilt when killing plants than animals. If we are trying to promote vegetarianism to minimize the loss of "lives" (which I think can be an interesting argument by itself), would it be more ethical to genetically modify animals and make their lives a living hell for a greater quantity of meat to minimize the "loss in lives"? Or if it is about the suffering, what if we devise a means to ensure that the animal is grown under conditions that "removes" its sentience; as in, say, grow the body in a coma state or remove all the pain receptors?
 
Points regarding if it is "natural" to eat meat:
Honestly, though, does it even matter if it is natural to eat meat? I feel this is, to an extent, logically fallacious. It isn't "natural" for humans to wear clothes. or bikinis or whatever in water. It isn't "natural" for us to even sit right here before the computer and make an argument about vegetarianism. All of these are examples of the naturalistic fallacy. Just because it isn't natural for us to eat meat does not make it right or wrong. Just because we can't digest cellulose does not mean it is ethically wrong to eat grass. Just because it isn't natural for animals to grow in confined space like factories does not make it wrong. I do not support factory farming, but not because it isn't "natural". I am not sure if anyone did in this topic (I am mentioning this point because, regrettably, I hear this ever-so-often in every type of ethical discussion), but dear god, it is not about nature, it is about ethics, so please refrain from bring the concept of nature in these type of argument.
 
 
I have many vegan friends and may of them base their choices on emotion and intuition: the horrors of personally watching animals in factory farms or being slaughtered in an inhumane way. Ethics and reason often come later to justify their emotion. Not that it is a bad thing, but it just made me wonder if it is actually all about ethics or a mostly emotion. Yes, I respect their choice (their life, after all; also if they eat less meat, more for me), and neither of us preaches on the ways to live so it may not be such a big thing, but just a personal thought. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm a vegetarian- Firstly by birth, then later by choice. In my religion (Jainism) we are told not to consume animals because our fundamental belief is in non-violence. Someone me

 

I sincerely apologies in advance if I repeated any of the points I make. 
 
Points regarding if it is "ethical" to eat meat:
Egoistically, it is ethically correct. Altruistically, perhaps not. Kantian ethics does not exactly consider animals as part of "humanity" so it probably will define animal consumption to be ethical. Utilitarian approach it all gets quite messy with animal "sentience" added to the equation, so lets assume two scenarios; a) the decision making individuals do not consider animals as for maximized happiness. In this case, animal consumption really would not be a problem if you consider the fact that vegetarian population is often minority. In case b), the decision making individuals do consider animals as for maximized happiness, animal consumption will probably be considered unethical for reasons stated in previous post. The happiness of survival would probably outweigh the happiness for meat consumption. 
 
Also, although this may not entirely be pertinent, but to what extent is eating plants more ethical? Is this all a question of which is less ethically wrong? I personally do not see why eating plants would be any better than eating animals other than greater efficiency from energy conversion between tropic level and less intuitive guilt when killing plants than animals. If we are trying to promote vegetarianism to minimize the loss of "lives" (which I think can be an interesting argument by itself), would it be more ethical to genetically modify animals and make their lives a living hell for a greater quantity of meat to minimize the "loss in lives"? Or if it is about the suffering, what if we devise a means to ensure that the animal is grown under conditions that "removes" its sentience; as in, say, grow the body in a coma state or remove all the pain receptors?
 
Points regarding if it is "natural" to eat meat:
Honestly, though, does it even matter if it is natural to eat meat? I feel this is, to an extent, logically fallacious. It isn't "natural" for humans to wear clothes. or bikinis or whatever in water. It isn't "natural" for us to even sit right here before the computer and make an argument about vegetarianism. All of these are examples of the naturalistic fallacy. Just because it isn't natural for us to eat meat does not make it right or wrong. Just because we can't digest cellulose does not mean it is ethically wrong to eat grass. Just because it isn't natural for animals to grow in confined space like factories does not make it wrong. I do not support factory farming, but not because it isn't "natural". I am not sure if anyone did in this topic (I am mentioning this point because, regrettably, I hear this ever-so-often in every type of ethical discussion), but dear god, it is not about nature, it is about ethics, so please refrain from bring the concept of nature in these type of argument.
 
 
I have many vegan friends and may of them base their choices on emotion and intuition: the horrors of personally watching animals in factory farms or being slaughtered in an inhumane way. Ethics and reason often come later to justify their emotion. Not that it is a bad thing, but it just made me wonder if it is actually all about ethics or a mostly emotion. Yes, I respect their choice (their life, after all; also if they eat less meat, more for me), and neither of us preaches on the ways to live so it may not be such a big thing, but just a personal thought. 

I am a vegetarian- firstly by birth, then later by choice. In my religion (Jainism) we are told to not consume meat because of the concept of Ahimsa (the most direct translation being non-violence). We are also told not to consume tubers, or any sort of vegetable that must be killed to be able to eat it. (This is regarding the question of whether or not it is more ethical to eat plants as opposed to animals) This is done to minimize the loss of lives. But I guess this doesn't apply to the general definition of vegetarianism...

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I'd say that there is no ethical problem considering the consumption of meats.

Speaking from my own opinion, ethics differ between each person. Ethics is shared amongst your acquaintances, and a general consensus is formed.

Ethics of eating other animals doesn't apply to non-human animals in the food chain. Many organisms consume a wide variety of foods, thus i see no reason for humans to do the same. Applying ethics to nature is, simply, inapplicable.

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it is ethical,because nowaday meat that we eat like chicken,cow,lamb,etc are breed to be eaten,some of them as you know,are injected with steroid to be more meatier,or some of the chicken are hybridized so they could grow into fully adult in a such short time,thats what we need to be question at. does that things are ethical to the animal? human already been known eating meat for many years ago.its not something be questioned as ethical or not,question the people who are breeding the animal with their cruel way,is it ethical or not?we eat meat to fulfill our calorie,fat,protein.also some vegans are not being vegans because their seeing its as an animal cruelty,some of my neighbours are simply being a vegans because they hated the taste of meat and disgusted.

 

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I am a vegetarian, and it's not because I think eating meat is unethical. It's simply because I don't like the taste of meat. I happen to think that there is nothing unethical about eating meat. In my opinion, it's the same thing as eating plants. If animals aren't slaughtered and kept under bad conditions, if they aren't beaten and forced to undergo painful processes like live skinning, eating meat is perfectly ethical. Meat is required for growth and muscle tissue, it's a great resource and it's ethical to eat meat that is produced under good conditions. 

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  • 8 months later...

No, but it's also unethical to purchase Nestle products, shop at "fast fashion" outlets like Zara/H&M/etc, use electronics made by slave workers in third-world countries... To be honest with myself, I don't really care enough about the ethics of eating meat to stop. I also have a mental illness that relates to food, and I fear that giving up meat would only hurt me in the long-term.

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  • 3 months later...

The problem with eating meat is just the carbon trail that it leaves on the planet, especially red meat. 

Personally, I have had the struggle to convert to vegetarianism. First of all, I have really bad period pains and can only be reduced by my consumption of meat, usually red but I have survived the last couple of months off of eating white meat. This summer is going to be really big for me as I am planning to eat only fish and vegetables. 

I have nothing against the consumption of meat, it's just that oftentimes, we have to realize that there are some ethical complications in terms of how we obtain that meat itself. 

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Its a really awkward question. Because it really starts off with why? Is it because someone believes eating animals is cruel? (personally i think the way we treat them does suck). But then if its a matter of cruelty, what would you consider life? Would crushing a fly be just as bad then? What about microorganism? Bacteria? Viruses? Do people only feel compassion when the living thing is visible to the naked eye? 

If its for the sake of being environmentally healthy, then its a little less debatable, as you could probably do off with less meat in your diet and make the environment a lot better off. (assuming you dont cut meat completely)

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On 9/19/2011 at 6:43 PM, kim luffy said:

Personally, i think it's wrong eating animals as well, i was finally allowed to be a vegetarian after asking for so long because my family didn't like the idea of it. Animals were not made for eating 😕 I prefer eating vegetables because they taste better and are more healthier. But then people tell me 'oh but then you're taking the animals food' and stuff like that. I mean sometimes you have to step back and ask yourself, if i was that cow/goat getting slaughtered how would i feel? You have to sometimes think of the pain it goes through and everything. I don't think meat lovers would like it very much. My friends even bring religion into it and say 'oh but God made animals for us to eat'. I'm atheist so i don't really support that but to some extent i do, weird i know, but that's how i feel. But i personally think it's wrong.

I disagree.

Fistly nothing is made to be eaten. Neither animal nor vegetables or bacteria or whatever. Living things objective is to pass down their genes. That's all.

Secondly vegetables are not inherently healthier than meat. A balanced diet is healthy.

Thidly not all animals feel and process pain the same way humans do. Humanise animals is a misrepresentation of their experience of reality.

Edited by Matthof
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  • 9 months later...

I think it is good to be aware of the impact of one’s own behavior. I like to make sure that the meat I eat is from ethical sources, and I don’t eat it very often. There’s also the argument that meat causes a strain on the environment. I actually tried eating vegan for 4 days this week (i know that’s not very impressive) and I felt better, and it wasn’t too hard either. I definitely don’t think that eating meat is unethical, but it’s still good to think about these things.

Also, I like eating plants anyway so it’s not as hard for me to eat less meat lmao

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