Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Q+A 5
Vegetarianism is a dietary choice. The only time one should feel morally obligated to stop eating meat would be if they no longer want to. Assuming that one genuinely believes that all animals have a right to life, is informed about current practices in meat production/causal effects on our planet, is not a hedonist and is ready to face the truth, the desire to eat meat should naturally dissipate. If one still desires to eat meat, then it is likely that one of these conditions is not met, and that individual should not feel a moral obligation to cease meat-eating until their mind automatically rejects this diet conceptually. If an individual does meet all of these conditions, and no longer wishes to eat meat, then they are morally obligated to take steps to reduce their meat intake towards a vegan ideal- but are not obligated to take it any farther than they are comfortable. In either case, I think people only have a moral obligation to form a congruency between their beliefs and actions.
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ReplyDeleteI think it would be altogether wonderful if the desire to eat meat naturally dissipated after meeting those conditions that you specified. Unfortunately that is not something that is very likely to happen. So, in response, we need to determine if, regardless of people's desire, it is wrong to eat meat, and therefore obligatory to follow a vegetarian diet. The question is thus: what if the desire doesn't dissipate?
ReplyDeleteHere is an argument that can result from the conclusion that "people only have a moral obligation to form a congruenc[e] between their beliefs and actions":
Hitler believed that it was okay and even good to kill millions of Jewish people, and he did kill millions of Jewish people. Therefore, he fulfilled his moral obligations.
Basically, the conclusion that one must reach from this argument is that actions have no moral value, and that any action can be justified in reference to belief. This would probably lead to a high crime rate with no way to justly defend people's rights.
Instead, I think we need to realize that, while one does not have an obligation to believe in a moral proposition, people are obligated to act in a moral way. People can believe that vegetarianism is wrong and that it's okay to kill millions of people, but if eating animals and killing millions of people is wrong, then people have the moral obligation to be vegetarian and to refrain from killing millions of people.