look at animals almost all of them eat meat. Now look at Humans almost all of them eat meat.
It's a good balance, so why you should feel guilty about it?
It's a good balance, so why you should feel guilty about it?
I could Godwin's law that argument pretty hard. If we start categorizing what life is important and what life isn't, we start to approach a damn slippery slope. Beyond that, if your concern is making sure that something doesn't experience pain and suffering, then shouldn't you be placated if slaughterhouses find a truly painless way to kill? Wouldn't that end your argument? If you feel that wouldn't be enough, why?maninahat said:My moral argument is to prevent suffering and pain where possible. Plants are excluded because they cannot feel pain or suffering. Chemical screams are categorically not in the same league as pain sensations, and as a plant has no mental capacity to speak of, a "chemical scream" is not really analogous to a pain sensation. No where did I say that I believed in the sanctity of life, or that all lives are equally valuable. They aren't.
It's not and I feel taking those things on assumption leads to inconsistency. You have to come up with a criterion for what you believe in, some way to judge actions, before we can say whether something is more right or wrong. You can't assume I or anyone shares the same beliefs you do.I'm sorry if it was meant as a genuine question. I just assumed that the moral differences between killing animals and killing plants was so obvious, that you already knew the answer, and were just asking me out of intellectual dishonesty.
Right, it isn't available yet. However, understanding what it is and that it is on the horizon can lead to us doing the simple thing of accepting that living by taking life is not morally acceptable for creatures as intelligent as we are and that this, our inevitable future, is where we can reach our moral peace, not in vegetarianism.yes, in vitro meat would be the a more moral choice, but it isn't even available on the market yet. It won't be for a long time, until they find a much cheaper way to create it in bulk. I ignored it because it isn't yet relevant to consuming habits of normal people. Mention it again in twenty years time.
Not quite, though that would obviously be more ideal than a painful method of slaughter. It isn't just the killing floors that bother me, but the whole farming process from beginning (beginning with artificial insemination and the culling of male infants) to the end. In fairness to farmers, many already try to make the whole process as painless as possible. But even if we managed to create a perfectly painless method of farming, it doesn't solve another problem I haven't even brought up yet.jboking said:...if your concern is making sure that something doesn't experience pain and suffering, then shouldn't you be placated if slaughterhouses find a truly painless way to kill? Wouldn't that end your argument? If you feel that wouldn't be enough, why?
I think I love you.solemnwar said:Vegetarian? Cool
Vegan? Cool
Omnivore? Cool
All-Meat Diet? Cool
Seriously, why do people get all up in each other's personal lives over stupid shit? There are much better things to be worrying about right now than whether or not your fellow man is eating the flesh of a once-living creature. Hell, there's the chance that I'll get my ass eaten by a bear or a wolf or something if I'm an idiot and go derping about in the woods like an idiot (I have no survival skills what-so-ever), so dammit I am going to inflict my carniverous ways onto the animal kingdom!
It's like people trying to guilt-trip you for having lots of sex. It's not necessarry, especially if you don't want kids. Even if you do want kids, we have a more efficient method available. We still do it, because it's fun and pleasurable. We eat meat because our bodies crave it and goddamn it tastes good, and it's far easier to get certain essential nutrients and such by eating meat. Healthy veganism and vegetarianism is possible, of course, but it's hard and it can be very expensive.
All-in-all, though, you're not doing anything "evil" or "wrong", so if anyone tries to guilt you about it, tell them to fuck off and mind their own damn business.
And same goes to anyone harrassing vegetarians and vegans. If someone is harrassing you for that lifesytle, tell them to fuck off too!
Oh please, are you actually trying to say that you can't state which life is more valuable than others? Bacteria are living, tiny organisms that you're killing probably millions of a day. I'm pretty sure that most people would make a distinction between that and an animal dying.jboking said:I could Godwin's law that argument pretty hard. If we start categorizing what life is important and what life isn't, we start to approach a damn slippery slope. Beyond that, if your concern is making sure that something doesn't experience pain and suffering, then shouldn't you be placated if slaughterhouses find a truly painless way to kill? Wouldn't that end your argument? If you feel that wouldn't be enough, why?
Having a reaction to physical stimuli and having a BRAIN is a huge difference. The difference being one is actually capable of experiencing pain while the other just has an automated response.acosn said:Plants react to physical stimuli the same way any other organism does, they just don't have similar methods of communicating it as we see with animals.
I forget who it was, but someone had a very good response to this a couple pages ago. He brought up the Naturalist Fallacy which has to do with the assumption that just because something's natural means that it's right.acosn said:Humans eat meat. This is indisputable fact.
Here it isAl Baker said:*snip*
I eat meat. We raise and keep animals. We hunt. We kill animals for their meat. It's very natural, and the animals live good, comfy lives by all accounts.jboking said:I also love how you never seemed to pay attention to the last comment. In Vitro Meat.. In vitro meat is meat created in a lab from animal muscle cells. Using these cells they can grow meat virtually indefinitely. This is meat that will not grow into an animal, because it is just muscle cells, not full on DNA. This means that the meat we would grow would never be attached to an animal and could be harvested with zero pain or loss of life. It is, simply, the most moral choice.
Humans are only omnivores because they can think.s28 said:I was brought up as a vegetarian in India and then in my late twenties when i came to Europe i started to eat meat. Also in Europe it is easier to be a non-vegetarian as the vegetarian choices can be pretty boring. And I must admit that I like the taste of meat and seafood, etc.
But lately I have been questioning if I should feel guilty for eating meat, seafood (anything that has a life). Do you guys ever wonder about things like: balance of the eco system, food chain, humans are at the top of the food chain so its justified, etc? Do humans really need meat to survive or we just eat it for pleasure? I eat it for its taste and I know some meat/seafood are supposed to be really good for our health. Also primitive man/Neanderthals used to hunt for food...but i guess they used to hunt anything for survival. The modern man does not need to kill/hunt for survival as there is abundance of vegetables and fruits available to eat.
Anyway to cut the long story short, I'm very confused if eating meat/seafood is justified and that we shouldn't feel guilty for killing living things for our consumption. What do you guys think?
Your open and honest opinions on this subject are welcomed.
Do you take supplements or have any health issues (And when I say ANY I really mean ANY)thylasos said:The simple answer that I tend to give is that eating meat and other byproducts of slaughter isn't necessary.
As proved by the fact I'm still alive after ten years of vegetarianism, and the fact the OP didn't eat meat until his late twenties. And in fair shape.
Since I don't have to eat that stuff, I choose not to.
For various reasons. Environmental. Ethical.