Do cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens have a moral right not to be killed for food?
http://tinfoilhat.net/~fearless/eating_meat.doc
Again, please do not duplicate :)
Note: The views expressed in the essay are not necessarily my views. I simply wrote what was expected in order to get a decent mark, which I got :)
John replied:
Interesting, but I wonder just whose moral benchmarks are we to employ, seeing as there is no global moral code for even the most broadly basic aspects of our world. Thus, killing animals in a Western secular sense is justified because animals are not humans, and further are sub-human. This makes them incapable of higher thought beyond basic functions. So it’s not another ’soul’ we’re killing for burgers but rather just something that moos when it’s hungry/sick/scared/happy.
I don’t think killing is in itself ‘wrong’ for the simple reason that almost every single developed society has various justified instances where ‘killing’ is morally acceptable between humans, let alone animals.
Also, what about culling? Do we not kill animals who threaten entire ecosystems simply because we’ll violate some arbitrary moral code? If it’s not the manner in which we kill, nor the purpose, then what about the need?
May 16, 2009 at 11:54 pm. Permalink.