Posted by alexandra_k on March 3, 2005, at 22:17:58
In reply to Re: Animal Rights » alexandra_k, posted by Toph on March 3, 2005, at 21:32:41
> I really don't want to step between two heavyweights here, but there's two debates going on here simultaneously, the comparative nutritional value of the two diets and the moral argument.
Yes, indeed there are :-)
And the bridge between them is far from clear...>I'm intrigued by the moral argument that you posit alex.
:-)
Is it immoral for Eskimos who have virtually no access (before technology) to plant food to survive off mamalian whale meat? Are primitive cultures that are unaware of agricultural technologies immoral because eating meat is the only food source they have learned to harvest?
According to Singer (I hope you don't mind my doing this) it is not that it is wrong to eat animals as a blanket rule with no exceptions.
All he is trying to say is that an animal has a comperable degree of sentience as a human infant. Sentience is the only morally defensible boundary with respect to whether one has interests. All with comperable interests should be given comperable moral consideration.
That is why he asks us to consider that whatever it is we want to do with animals we ask ourselves whether it is morally acceptable to do the same thing to a human of comperable sentience. If we say 'no' in the human case and 'yes' in the animal case then (according to him) we are speciest - which is immoral.
Now, with respect to your case... I personally would not condemn people for eating either animals or other people if that was necessary to their survival. It would be senseless to say that they *shouldn't* be doing that because they are unable to stop.
Likewise if their was no other food source (that they were aware of) other than people then I wouldn't consider them immoral for eating people.
Does this sound reasonable???
>It strikes me as similar to the question if someone has never heard of God can they gain entrance into heaven if entry is conditional on belief in God.
Well there the answer would be 'no'. You can't believe in something you have never heard of. And you stated that you have to believe to gain entry.
Bugger for all those little kiddies out there who can't talk yet - eh?
poster:alexandra_k
thread:461535
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050224/msgs/466246.html