Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 6, 2007

Consider some of the victories: On November 5th, 2002, more than two and a half million Floridians voted "Yes" on Amendment 10 to amend the state constitution and prohibit the use of gestation crates , narrow metal cages where breeding pigs are kept for most of their lives. The full text of the amendment is available here.

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Factory Gestation Crates Veal Crate Factory Farm 40

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 14, 2009

I foresee a day, perhaps not far in the future, in which it is illegal to raise cows, pigs, and other animals for food. Of all the ways of influencing behavior, rational persuasion is the most effective, the most secure (in the sense of long-lasting), and the most defensible from a moral point of view.

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Meat Animal Welfare Vegetarian Protecting Animals 40

Animal Person

FEBRUARY 5, 2010

But it's also remarkable in that Roger Cohen, a 50-something man who writes for the New York Times, wonders: But do pigs have any more or less of a soul than dogs? If you eat meat you cannot logically find it morally or ethically repugnant to eat a particular meat (I’m setting cannibalism aside here.). Or pig, or duck, or fish.

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Pigs Dogs Meat Ethics 100

Animal Person

FEBRUARY 6, 2010

Logically, he admits it does make perfect sense to eat dogs if you eat pigs and cows. If you eat meat you cannot logically find it morally or ethically repugnant to eat a particular meat (I’m setting cannibalism aside here.). Because his previous paragraph is: But do pigs have any more or less of a soul than dogs?

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Pigs Ethics Meat Suffering 100

Animal Person

AUGUST 5, 2009

The problem with that statement is it's not as if farmers are searching "the wild" for cows, pigs, chicken and fish, plucking them from their homes, and plopping them on a farm to live out their (shortened) lives prior to slaughter. The choice isn't the wild or the farm. Besides, we have choices.

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Animal Ethics

OCTOBER 30, 2007

To the Editor: Re “ Two Pigs ” (The Rural Life, Oct. There is no moral difference between eating a dog or a pig, a cat or a chicken. For the same reason that most of us would not eat our pets, we should also not eat chickens, pigs or other animals. Borders Jr. Louisville, Ky.,

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New York Times New York Louisville Pigs 40

Animal Person

OCTOBER 26, 2009

There's not enough evidence for an accusation of moral relativism, but for me the message is a mixed one. In the end, they can still have their dogs and eat their pigs, without feeling that they are doing anything wrong by favoring one species over another, or taking someone's life when they don't need to.

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Factory Farming Factory Farm Animal Vegan 100

Animal Ethics

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

Peter Singer more broadly examines the moral standing of animals here.) How much do you want to bet that Randy Cohen eats cows and pigs? This passage puzzles me: Unsurprisingly, I believe it is wrong to inflict pain and death unnecessarily on a creature capable of suffering. Why does this belief not "compel us to be vegetarians"?

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Vegetarian Pigs New York Times Cows 40

Animal Ethics

AUGUST 2, 2008

Kristof’s thoughtful exploration of animal rights, I was astonished to read that he continues to eat animals, like geese and pigs, for which he obviously has such affection and respect. Doesn’t he realize that he does not have to engage in this voluntary activity, which causes moral conflict for himself and suffering for the animals?

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New York Times New York Factory Farming Factory Farm 40

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 15, 2009

For an explanation of this feature, click on “Moral Vegetarianism” at the bottom of this post. Most moral vegetarians list fish and fowl as animals one should not eat. The ability to feel pain is not an obviously plausible way of morally distinguishing microorganisms from other organisms. What Meat Should Not Be Eaten?

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Morals Vegetarian Meat Killing 40

Animal Ethics

JULY 17, 2008

Suppose pigs are non-self-conscious. Then painlessly killing a pig while replacing it with another, equally happy pig is not wrong. Self-consciousness is morally significant; species, like race or sex, is not. Those that are self-conscious are not replaceable, whereas those that are non-self-conscious are replaceable.

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Morals Pigs Killing Humane 40