Is It OK to Eat Meat?

Shahar, Dan C.

doi:10.4324/9781003221944-1

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Although some ethicists, such as Christopher Belsaw ( 2016 ), J. Baird Callicott ( 2016 ), and Roger Scruton ( 2000 ), defend the practice—and Nick Zangwill ( 2021 ) argues that, under certain conditions, we have a moral duty to eat meat—it is noteworthy that these theorists all restrict their defenses to the consumption of animal products that originate from high quality free-range farms, or from hunting. Dan Shahar ( 2021 ) argues that it can be permissible to eat meat even if it comes from a factory farm, but this is not because factory farming is morally unproblematic; rather, Shahar suggests, it can be permissible insofar as one, instead of being an activist about animal welfare, is an activist about another issue that is at least equally important. To our knowledge, the only contemporary ethicist who outright defends factory farming is Timothy Hsiao ( 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palliative Farming

Moen

Devolder

2022

J Ethics

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Billions of animals live and die under deplorable conditions in factory farms. Despite significant efforts to reduce human consumption of animal products and to encourage more humane farming practices, the number of factory-farmed animals is nevertheless on an upward trajectory. In this paper, we suggest that the high levels of suffering combined with short life-expectancies make the situation of many factory-farmed animals relevantly similar to that of palliative patients. Building on this, we discuss the radical option of seeking to reduce the suffering of factory-farmed animals through the use of drugs that alleviate pain and distress, administered under a regimen where experiential wellbeing is prioritized over the aim of avoiding drug-dependence.

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