A couple of weeks ago, a great discussion on the blog and Facebook was spurned by a question raised by the NY Times Ethicist. The question was a challenge for people to explain why they eat meat. The Ethicist invited responses and suggestions promising that the best ones would be selected and presented to the people for a vote.
That day has come and the responses are predictably weak. Six essays were published online and readers can vote for their favorite.
None of the responses justify eating meat en masse or the farming of animals purely for the sake of slaughter. I hope some responses of that nature were either omitted by the Ethicist as opposed to none being submitted.
A response that is sure to be popular is that indeed it is not necessarily the right thing to do, but we are not perfect so why start with eating meat? That’s an honest approach but not a logical approach.
The weakest answer is to “why is it ethical to eat meat?” was the guy who said it isn’t so he doesn’t but he will when artificially produced meat is for sale. Talk about avoiding the question!
Anyway, I don’t have much to add, I just felt it my duty to report that the Ethicist has selected some favorites and you can vote and comment on them.
Bon appétit.
Link: NY Times Magazine
