In association with Per Se
Veganism & Respecting Animals
ANIMALS MATTERCows, pigs, chickens and dolphins–amongst many more–are individuals who deserve respect. They are not mere things to be used. Such individuals (i.e. those who can feel pain, have personalities, can form bonds with others, etc) are not like paint tubes, desks or rocks.Unlike mere things, we can plausibly wrong animals in various ways. Imagine an 'artist' who abducts abandoned animals and turns them into a grotesque art installation. We would rightly object to such a practice in an importantly different way than we would object to someone making artwork out of abandoned furniture. Furthermore, treating animals nicely for their own sake doesn't strike us as overblown. For instance, some people come across injured abandoned dogs and take them to the vet for their own sake. Such situations strike me as incredibly and relevantly different to imaginary cases of people giving their used up paint tubes a retirement. Treating paint tubes as if they mattered strikes me as ridiculous, but not so for individuals like cows, pigs, chickens and dolphins.Does this pique your interest? Read more here
RESPECTING THOSE WHO MATTERGiven that animals matter in their own right, as opposed to just mattering for some other sake than themselves, it strikes me quite strongly that treating animals as things–mere commodities that matter only instrumentally–disrespects them. Treating them as some mere resource to be harvested for human ends inherently treats them with disrespect, as we would be treating them as though they lacked this important moral value. What happens to them matters.
RESPECT & VEGANISMVeganism takes ideas like this and presents us with practical moral advice.1. All moral agents have excellent reasons to be animal exploitation/farming abolitionists.
2. Selling / purchasing / consuming / using animals, their products and bodies is pro tanto wrong for all moral agents.And so forth...Thank you very much for reading. I've attached further resources below about Veganism, animal ethics and how to go Vegan.
VIDEO RESOURCES
GOING VEGAN?
MORE PHILOSOPHICAL VIDEOS