The Environment and Global Justice
Sep 28, 2004Our current way of life is unsustainable. Depletion of the ozone layer, the dwindling of the rain forest, the loss of animal habi...
From Peter Singer's Animal Liberation to arguments offered by the ancient Greeks and Hindus, many philosophers and environmentalists have made convincing cases against the practice of eating meat. But could there be a moral case in favor of it?
One animal welfare advocate offers that eating meat gives animals a life worth living. By eating meat, in essence, humans create lives of worth and purpose, since most farm animals wouldn't be alive if there weren't a demand for their meat in the first place. But as the author points out, note that this position, that "a life worth living is better than no life at all," is difficult to justify when applied to humans. For example, consider the prospect of raising children to produce organs and reallocate them to other people: wouldn't we consider this form of "creating lives worth living" unethical?
For this reason dissatisfied with the above argument and a few others, author Nathanael Johnson tries to explain then why very convincing arguments for veganism or vegetarianism often fail to compel carnivores to change their ways. He asks, is vegetarianism too absolutist or binary to convince meat eaters to convert? Finding an example in religion, Johnson observes that veganism and religion set "standards most people will never live up to." Thus, he concludes, we should set a good-or-evil view of meat aside and instead ensure that the living conditions of animals meet higher ethical standards.
But does the author's compromise go far enough? Is his argument for eating meat, even if chickens, let's say, get to live in pens better suited to their nature before they're slaughtered, clutching at straws? Tell us your thoughts and read more of the article here:
Our current way of life is unsustainable. Depletion of the ozone layer, the dwindling of the rain forest, the loss of animal habi...
We shouldn't be mean to animals. Is that because animals have rights, like people do? Or is it just because people care about animals?
Veganism, freeganism, organic, sustainability, simplicity, biofuel, animal rights, worker's rights, nutrition, preventing hunger, reducing waste and protecting the environment.
The number of chronically hungry people in the world is over 800 million, yet developed countries are facing health challenges from rising rates of obesity.
Human rights—like freedom from discrimination and slavery— are fundamental rights and freedoms that every person enjoys simply because they're human.
Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
Making a better world would be a great thing—but do we need philosophers to help us do that? Famously (or infamously), not all philosophers have been such great people. So are they the folks we... Read more
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics,... Read more
Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
Your friendly neighborhood Senior Prodcuer here, once again stepping out from behind the mixing board to bring you some bonus content from this week's 17th (!) annual Summer Reading special.... Read more
Gender is a controversial topic these days. To some, gender is an oppressive system designed to keep women down: people go around saying "girls are made of sugar and spice and boys are made of... Read more
Fascism is on the rise, new infectious diseases keep cropping up, and we’re on the verge of environmental collapse: how on earth could art possibly save us? The arts are may be nice distraction,... Read more
Some say the world is full of contradictions, like “parting is such sweet sorrow.” Parting is sweet, but parting is also sad; and sweetness and sadness are opposites. But logicians would say that... Read more
Our minds are amazing prediction machines—and sometimes they can even make their predictions come true!
Does reading that strike you as something out of The Secret—like if you... Read more
Derek Parfit was a really interesting thinker when it came to identity and the self. He had a particularly cool thought experiment involving tele-transportation.
Suppose you’re on your... Read more
When philosophers talk about perception, they tend to focus on what we see and hear, and rarely on what we smell. But olfaction is a strange sense that deserves greater philosophical scrutiny. For... Read more
A caller in this week's episode nominated "Women Talking" for a Dionysus Award. Guest co-host Jeremy Sabol takes that as a springboard to blog about movies and... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Cancel Culture, which some consider a real problem: people losing their jobs, being harassed online, their home addresses being shared—all because they said... Read more
This week we’re asking why we should trust science—which may sound like a weird question. After all, why would we doubt the method that helps us build bridges and skyscrapers, formulate life... Read more
Following up on last year's not-so-new experiment, here's a little behind-the-scenes look into the brief audio montages (produced... Read more
This week we’re asking what it’s... Read more
This essay also appears at the website of Oxford University Press, publisher of Josh's new book,
"The World According to Proust."
... Read more
This week we’re thinking about how to create a world in which our leaders are not just effective legislators, but also good people.
Some might think there are not enough leaders like that... Read more
This week we're thinking about the British Liberal tradition and its relationship to colonialism and self-government. Classical Liberal thinkers, like John Locke and John Stuart Mill, held that... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Collective Action and Climate Change. With floods and fires getting more frequent and intense, and with the summer just ended shattering heat records around the... Read more
This week we’re thinking about cultural appropriation and asking who owns culture—which may be a weird way of thinking about it. It's easy to see how somebody can own the rights to a song they... Read more
This week we’re questioning Effective Altruism. That’s Peter Singer’s idea that you should do the most good you can, and you should figure out what that is by doing your homework and choosing the... Read more
This week we're asking what Political Inequality is. Sounds easy to define, right? That’s when some people don’t get an equal voice in society, because they’re not represented in government, or... Read more
This week we're asking whether it's rational to be optimistic—which seems like bit of a crazy question if you've been reading the news lately. After all, what could possibly justify the belief... Read more
This week we're thinking about the Changing Face of Antisemitism—a program recorded last month at the Stanford Humanities Center for our first live, in-person event in 2-1/2 years.
... Read more
Our current way of life is unsustainable. Depletion of the ozone layer, the dwindling of the rain forest, the loss of animal habi...
We shouldn't be mean to animals. Is that because animals have rights, like people do? Or is it just because people care about animals?
Veganism, freeganism, organic, sustainability, simplicity, biofuel, animal rights, worker's rights, nutrition, preventing hunger, reducing waste and protecting the environment.
The number of chronically hungry people in the world is over 800 million, yet developed countries are facing health challenges from rising rates of obesity.
Human rights—like freedom from discrimination and slavery— are fundamental rights and freedoms that every person enjoys simply because they're human.
Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
Making a better world would be a great thing—but do we need philosophers to help us do that? Famously (or infamously), not all philosophers have been such great people. So are they the folks we... Read more
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics,... Read more
Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
Your friendly neighborhood Senior Prodcuer here, once again stepping out from behind the mixing board to bring you some bonus content from this week's 17th (!) annual Summer Reading special.... Read more
Gender is a controversial topic these days. To some, gender is an oppressive system designed to keep women down: people go around saying "girls are made of sugar and spice and boys are made of... Read more
Fascism is on the rise, new infectious diseases keep cropping up, and we’re on the verge of environmental collapse: how on earth could art possibly save us? The arts are may be nice distraction,... Read more
Some say the world is full of contradictions, like “parting is such sweet sorrow.” Parting is sweet, but parting is also sad; and sweetness and sadness are opposites. But logicians would say that... Read more
Our minds are amazing prediction machines—and sometimes they can even make their predictions come true!
Does reading that strike you as something out of The Secret—like if you... Read more
Derek Parfit was a really interesting thinker when it came to identity and the self. He had a particularly cool thought experiment involving tele-transportation.
Suppose you’re on your... Read more
When philosophers talk about perception, they tend to focus on what we see and hear, and rarely on what we smell. But olfaction is a strange sense that deserves greater philosophical scrutiny. For... Read more
A caller in this week's episode nominated "Women Talking" for a Dionysus Award. Guest co-host Jeremy Sabol takes that as a springboard to blog about movies and... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Cancel Culture, which some consider a real problem: people losing their jobs, being harassed online, their home addresses being shared—all because they said... Read more
This week we’re asking why we should trust science—which may sound like a weird question. After all, why would we doubt the method that helps us build bridges and skyscrapers, formulate life... Read more
Following up on last year's not-so-new experiment, here's a little behind-the-scenes look into the brief audio montages (produced... Read more
This week we’re asking what it’s... Read more
This essay also appears at the website of Oxford University Press, publisher of Josh's new book,
"The World According to Proust."
... Read more
This week we’re thinking about how to create a world in which our leaders are not just effective legislators, but also good people.
Some might think there are not enough leaders like that... Read more
This week we're thinking about the British Liberal tradition and its relationship to colonialism and self-government. Classical Liberal thinkers, like John Locke and John Stuart Mill, held that... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Collective Action and Climate Change. With floods and fires getting more frequent and intense, and with the summer just ended shattering heat records around the... Read more
This week we’re thinking about cultural appropriation and asking who owns culture—which may be a weird way of thinking about it. It's easy to see how somebody can own the rights to a song they... Read more
This week we’re questioning Effective Altruism. That’s Peter Singer’s idea that you should do the most good you can, and you should figure out what that is by doing your homework and choosing the... Read more
This week we're asking what Political Inequality is. Sounds easy to define, right? That’s when some people don’t get an equal voice in society, because they’re not represented in government, or... Read more
This week we're asking whether it's rational to be optimistic—which seems like bit of a crazy question if you've been reading the news lately. After all, what could possibly justify the belief... Read more
This week we're thinking about the Changing Face of Antisemitism—a program recorded last month at the Stanford Humanities Center for our first live, in-person event in 2-1/2 years.
... Read more
Comments (1)
Harold G. Neuman
Tuesday, October 24, 2017 -- 12:09 PM
Anthropologists seem to haveAnthropologists seem to have arrived at their own conclusions about whether our most direct ancestors (those of the hominid persuasion) ate meat. It appears that they did, and, probably lots of it when times were flush. To intone that they likely did not give much thought to diet might be presumptive. To further intone that they may not have given much thought about anything would conclude that they were little more than hairy apes. Well, there it is. We are free to conclude what we will. A meat(or largely meat) diet appears to have worked in the big picture of life on Earth. Mr. Johnson's conclusion seems sound to me. Lions and tigers and bears would agree, yes?