The Meat Eaters
By JEFF MCMAHANViewed from a distance, the natural world often presents a vista of sublime, majestic placidity. Yet beneath the foliage and hidden from the distant eye, a vast, unceasing slaughter rages. Wherever there is animal life, predators are stalking, chasing, capturing, killing, and devouring their prey. Agonized suffering and violent death are ubiquitous and continuous. This hidden carnage provided one ground for the philosophical pessimism of Schopenhauer, who contended that “one simple test of the claim that the pleasure in the world outweighs the pain…is to compare the feelings of an animal that is devouring another with those of the animal being devoured.”
Strange... why would anyone even consider writing on this?
"Even if we are not morally required to prevent suffering among animals in the wild for which we are not responsible, we do have a moral reason to prevent it." And this is bogus :) T...his is why most modern day philosophers should go find a job!
Did he miss the point that animals could hurt each other without bring carnivorous? The stronger and faster animals will eat all the food! The animals will die from hunger and disease. This is much more disturbing. I repeat, the guy should shave his beard and join the rank of people producing something useful in this world. His last sentence showed the expectation of criticism.
"Even if we are not morally required to prevent suffering among animals in the wild for which we are not responsible, we do have a moral reason to prevent it." And this is bogus :) T...his is why most modern day philosophers should go find a job!
Did he miss the point that animals could hurt each other without bring carnivorous? The stronger and faster animals will eat all the food! The animals will die from hunger and disease. This is much more disturbing. I repeat, the guy should shave his beard and join the rank of people producing something useful in this world. His last sentence showed the expectation of criticism.
I explained why. It's bogus for humans to butt in and decide they have to change nature because they think the animals are suffering. The animals are suffering much less from being eaten than they would if they had to die from hunger or dis...ease.
[This obviously doesn't apply to humans who grow animals for their consumption. I would not have a problem with eating meat if everyone were to hunt for their food (with bow and arrow, LOL).]
You cannot call this moral. There is no morality in the animal kingdom. It's immoral for humans to assume they know what animals need and to think they can fix the order of the animal kingdom to fit the human understanding of how the world should operate. It's immoral because humans such as the author doesn't understand the alternatives to carnivorous order in nature.
[This obviously doesn't apply to humans who grow animals for their consumption. I would not have a problem with eating meat if everyone were to hunt for their food (with bow and arrow, LOL).]
You cannot call this moral. There is no morality in the animal kingdom. It's immoral for humans to assume they know what animals need and to think they can fix the order of the animal kingdom to fit the human understanding of how the world should operate. It's immoral because humans such as the author doesn't understand the alternatives to carnivorous order in nature.
It is interesting of course because it allows you to ponder at things, which you normally discuss (politics and human psychology).
There are a million much more worthy topics for discussion (that don't involve morality and other things we c...annot define in connection to the animal kingdom).
I love articles on simulating human economic behavior (for instance) by employing animal studies. I think animals quite enjoy them too :) Mainly they are used to show how irrational humans are (stupid in plain language). It's interesting to contemplate the differences and similarities between human and animal behavior, too, and the causes for such.
There are a million much more worthy topics for discussion (that don't involve morality and other things we c...annot define in connection to the animal kingdom).
I love articles on simulating human economic behavior (for instance) by employing animal studies. I think animals quite enjoy them too :) Mainly they are used to show how irrational humans are (stupid in plain language). It's interesting to contemplate the differences and similarities between human and animal behavior, too, and the causes for such.
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