Rachels Argument for Vegetarianism PDF

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A summary of Rachels' argument for vegetarianism...

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Vegetarianism (Stuart Rachels) - Why are people against Vegetarianism/Veganism? - Cultural familiarity - people are familiar with the dangers of smoking, drinking, etc., but not with the practices of modern farming - knowledge that other people aren’t threatening you when they give up smoking, drinking, etc. - it can feel judgmental when others become vegan (identity issue) - the issue is unfamiliar, feels “loony” -

Modern Factory Farms: - Chickens put in battery cages and are not able to move for their entire lives once they can lay eggs - cows not allowed to move in order to make their meat more tender - pigs have been genetically altered - they would not be able to survive outside of the cramped, indoor pens they’re kept in - very susceptible to disease - completely doused in antibiotics - humane family family farms are the exception, not the norm - meat from a restaurant or grocery store most likely came from a modern factory farm

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Rachels’ Ace Argument: 1. It’s wrong to cause suffering unless there is a good reason to do so a. basic utilitarian principle 2. Industrial Farming causes billions of animals to suffer without a good reason - C1.) Therefore, it’s wrong - C2.) Therefore, you shouldn’t buy factory farmed meat - we did not evolve to eat meat; we do not need meat to survive

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Typical objections to Rachels’ Ace Argument: - Wouldn’t life in the wild be worse for these creatures? - No, it wouldn’t. (And how is this relevant?) - Why should we treat animals any better than they treat each other? - We don’t look to animals for moral guidance - We actually treat them worse than they treat each other - Animals on a factory farm have never known any other life - However, they can still suffer - It is wrong for parents to abuse their children even if their children have never known any other life - Animals are dumb - Intelligence is irrelevant

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Human problems take precedence over animal problems - A problem this big can’t wait - we can solve several problems at once - Industrial farming is a human problem We have no duties towards animals because they can’t have duties towards us - human infants and the disabled can’t have duties towards us, but we still have duties towards them Without the food industry, these animals wouldn’t exist, and having a life is better than not existing at all - it would be better for these animals if they never did exist - their existence is mere suffering

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Main Objection to Rachels’ Ace Argument: - just because factory farming is bad, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t buy factory farmed meat - R1.) Buying it gets my own hands dirty - R2.) the whole group is responsible and thus so am I - R3.) My behavior might make a difference - best retort according to Rachels

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Harms to humans: - infectious disease - swine flu, bird flu, etc. - massive pollution - large amounts of waste, methane production - resource depletion - takes a ton of water to raise these animals in this way - direct harm to humans - people living near these farms directly suffer due to pollution, etc. - bad conditions for workers on these farms - causes small farmers to go out of business - Increases “Western Diseases” - ex: heart disease from over-consumption of meat - Wastes tax dollars - spent on vaccination and research for things like swine flu, crop subsidies, environmental cleanup

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So why do we do this? - Selfishness - you don’t really care about the consequences of your actions - Convenience - you’re just going to go with whatever is most convenient - Conformity - everyone else is going to continue eating meat

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Most of us don’t change our behavior based on arguments - we change our behavior based on conformity - we don’t empathize with animals (especially when we don’t see them) What can get us to change?...