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Moral Vegetarianism, Part 12 of 13

Animal Ethics

For an explanation of this feature, click on “Moral Vegetarianism” at the bottom of this post. The Argument from Brutalization The previous argument was based on an alleged indirect effect on human beings of not eating meat. Conversely, vegetarianism, it is argued, tends to humanize people.

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On "Wild Justice"

Animal Person

" Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals ," By Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce, is the most recent (for me) book that debunks myths about the differences between human and nonhuman animals. Also, Bekoff and Pierce present a descriptive view, not a normative view of morality. There are no judgments.

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Hal Herzog's "Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat"

Animal Person

The bottom line is that there are many reasons why human-animal interactions are so often inconsistent and paradoxical. Thousands of studies have demonstrated that human thinking about nearly everything is surprisingly irrational” (65). . The campaign to moralize meat has largely been a failure. Yes, you read that right.)

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Jan Narveson on Moral Vegetarianism

Animal Ethics

What the utilitarian who defends human carnivorousness must say, then, is something like this: that the amount of pleasure which humans derive per pound of animal flesh exceeds the amount of discomfort and pain per pound which are inflicted on the animals in the process, all things taken into account. Is this plausible?

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On a New Level of Absurdity in the Slaughter Business

Animal Person

Bea sent me a link to an article in Gourmet called " Humane Slaughterhouses ," by Rebecca Marx, that is absurd. They believe you can take a life that doesn't want to be taken in a humane way, and I don't agree. It’s how we treat humans, too. For him, the importance of humane slaughter manifests itself in the quality of the meat."

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Gardner Williams (1895-1972) on Wronging Animals

Animal Ethics

Its validity is limited by other moral imperatives. But enlightened public opinion in human society approves of man's carnivorous behavior. And I believe that in most cases man is morally justified in thus reducing the satisfactions of the food animals. But sound reason denies that love is the whole duty of man.

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Meat

Animal Ethics

It will be said that animal husbandry is one of the most inefficient and destructive industries on the planet, and that the planet cannot survive unless humans change their diets. Force, coercion, and manipulation, by comparison, are inferior on each score. I object to this for two reasons, one conditional and one unconditional.

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