From: ianst@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au (Ian Staples)
Subject: Re: Vegetarian Ethics?????????????????
Organization: Qld Dept Primary Industries
Distribution: aus
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 09:08:20 GMT

In article <9300812.4252@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU> gifford@krang.vis.citri.edu.au (Jonathan Gifford) writes:
>ianst@qdpii.comp.qdpi.oz.au (Ian Staples) writes:
>>As far as I'm concerned, people are free to eat whatever they damned
>>well like, as long as they don't become cannibals.  (Somehow it just

>
>I'm particularly interested in *exactly* why you don't like
>cannibalism. Is it an ethical reason? If not, does anything you do
>related to eating have any ethical basis? Where do you draw the line
>on what is and what is not an ethical issue?

It is difficult to see how you bring ethics into eating except by
way of a personal prejudice which leads you to distinguish between
living animals and living plants.  To my mind, the miracle of *life*
_per_se_ is fundamental;  the forms it takes are secondary by a long way.
I can't think of any way even a facultative omnivore can survive without
relying on food produced through the death of, or injury to, at least
one other life form.

Of course, this is not to say we shouldn't feel compassion for the
creature(s) sacrificed in our interest.  Nor that we shouldn't be as
considerate and humane as possible in the act of sacrifice.

On the issue of cannibalism, I discussed this with a colleague
over a couple of beers last night.  Basically, the "ethics" of human
inter-relations derive from self-interest:  we proscribe behaviour which
we do not wish to be victims of (theft, murder, assault, rape, cannibalism).
Frankly, the thought of being killed to be eaten doesn't appeal to me.
But as my colleague pointed out - Why should that worry you specifically,
when there are probably lots of people out there who would be happy kill you
_without_ eating you :-)

>
>I suppose I should come clean and say I'm a Vege, and for mostly
>ethical reasons. I happen to think that humans should be attempting to
>minimise their impact on this planet, and all its other inhabitants,

And I am very happy to agree with this.

>since we are (possibly the only species) capable of doing this. This

But I see very little evidence that we are capable of it.  Until humans
can overcome the urge to reproduce at will, the concept of a sustainable
world is a fool's paradise.  In fact, in many ways we are worse than
other animals - we have the desire and the means to prevent "natural"
death of our own kind at both ends of the life cycle; and our individual
impact is very much greater.

>means that I extend much the same privileges to a person as I do to a
>dog, or a cow, and since I'm no cannibal, I'm no carnivore, either.

Viva les herbivores!  (But watch the gasses please :)

>
>hasta la tofu, baby,
>
>jon

P.S.  Why is half the world now called jon (or Jon)?  Or is it just that 
      I incur the wrath of the Jons?


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