Cow Care and the Ethics of Care

Abstract

Cow Care and the Ethics of Care My aims in this chapter are, first, to show a way of approaching animal ethics broadly speaking through the lens of Hindu thought, while keeping the focus on cow care as a value to be pursued and realized. Here the question can be phrased, how can Hindu thought contribute to a general discourse on animal ethics? The second aim is to bring non-Indian (Western) animal ethics thought to bear on Hindu animal ethics (including the pursuit of cow care). What elements of Western animal ethics discourse can complement and make more comprehensive, persuasive, and comprehensible, the traditional Hindu (or Indic) discourse, leading toward a more inclusive and comprehensive vision of nonhuman animal care while also giving appropriate place for cow care in particular? Our discussion will revolve largely around three key terms found in Hindu traditions, two of which we already encountered in Chapter 2, namely dharma and bhakti. A third term, yoga (briefly alluded to in that chapter), will also be important. These terms, each with their respective (and overlapping) semantic fields, are central to early brahmanical Hindu texts (also already introduced in Chapter 2) including the Mahabharata

Faith-Based Discrimination and Violent Religious Hostilities: A Global Analysis

“…One important minority religious practice that India curtails is the ritual slaughter of animals. Because cows are considered sacred in Hinduism, Hindu nationalists have long sought bans on the production, sale, and consumption of beef through state-level statutes (Copeland 2014; De 2018; Valpev 2020). The export of beef is banned nationally.…”