Vegetarianism, Ethics

Should you eat the meat of an animal when a more ethical alternative is present; ethical, here, referring to the convenient fact that the other option – vegetarianism – involves no ostensible pain and suffering as a consequence of your actions?

Since April this year, I’ve been a vegetarian. It has not been easy, as I’ve been an avid meat eater, as this post would testify. In addition to that, I’ve, quite often, found myself grappling with the ethical question. In this post I’ll try to summarize and answer the question(s).

Stripping it down to the very basic, the fact emerges that I’ve opted for vegetarianism as I thought that I shouldn’t unnecessarily – and that’s the most important word: unnecessarily – kill something just to please my taste buds, nor should I be a cause of any such killing. However, modern agricultural practices, such as the use of pesticides and all, cause a huge number of deaths as well. Conversely, the animals also in their lifetime cause a huge number of ‘deaths’, in the plants that they eat and the insects that they kill, etc. Now which of that numbers is greater, I have no means to know!

Then there is the philosophical question. It has been argued that we humans are morally conscious in a way that other animals are not, and therefore the killing of, and causing pain to, animals is wrong. It can be condoned when no other option is available, but indulging in it when you can very well lead a vegetarian life style is plain wrong. And, thinking of it, one can’t help the killing of the ‘pests’ in a farm as well, since not killing them would mean that we’d starve (unless, of course, one is willing to go vegan).

There are environmental and health-related issues as well. Feed crops like corn impact the ecosystem in a negative way; the gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane produced as by-product wreck havoc on the environment; and there is a waste of resources, as the higher in the food pyramid you eat from, the more concentrated bio-mass you eat. Also, meat raises cholesterol, can be unhealthily fatty, and may even cause colon cancer. Now who’d want all that? I wouldn’t. Not anymore.

Ultimately, it’s a question of what convinces you, what you think suits you the best. As is the case with all decisions – bets, in essence they are – you do what makes you happy and content, and that’s all what matters.

I’d conclude with a line by Matthew Scully, “If reason and morality are what set humans apart from animals, then reason and morality must always guide us in how we treat them.”