Peter Singer and the Push for Vegetarianism

Edward Alvarado (H3)

When looking for easy ways to help the environment or help the people, most people glance over an option talked about very often: Vegetarianism.

Now, most of us have not had the best introduction to the ideas of Veganism. More likely than not, one’s first encounter is from seeing an angry vegan online rant something incoherent about meat-eaters being murderers or from an unpleasant experience with one. It’s easy to completely ignore a certain set of beliefs if you force yourself to think “there is no way this could ever relate to me.” and this is indicated in the reactions of many when you ask them if they would have even considered it. To many, its not even a thought that would cross their minds, after all, Humanity has eaten meat for our whole existence. Humanity rose from its ability to cook rich calorie dense meat, and most of us have had an upbringing where we ate some sort of meat, so instinctively, most reactions will be a complete disregard. 

But Humanity didn’t rise only because of better calories. Those calories gave us brains, gave us the ability to understand logically and find the most efficient and best way to perform tasks, the best foods to eat. We learned how to deal with complex situations, where things we used to do could be done better. Humanity has advanced and we no longer live in a society where the only way to get food is with the death of another creature. 

Not often is the death part talked about, even if it's something we all know must happen for factory farming to occur. The lives of farmed cattle, chickens, and pigs are short and railroaded to achieve the best cuts or best taste. While value may not be attached to these creatures' lives, this is something that is only cultural in reasoning. Take for example the practice of eating dogs in East Asian countries. While this is often used as a reasoning for why Asian culture is “barbaric” or cruel, there is simply no difference between the value of life of a dog and that of a pig. In fact, according to the Humane Society, Pigs are actually more intelligent than dogs, forming more complex social structures and being more organized with hygiene and their living spaces. Western Cultures see the farming of dogs as cruel because we assign a friendship value to dogs in our culture, however South Asian Cultures and those who practice Hinduism would also see this same cruelty and disgust towards the western practice of cattle farming. There is no consistent way to view the value of any given animal’s life, but according to Australian Philosopher Peter Singer, a pioneer in effective altruism and eliminating animal cruelty, all life has equal value and a good and just society should strive to eliminate the injustice of systems like this.

Peter Singer’s Philosophy of effective altruism is one that pushes the idea that we should maximize the most good out of society for all, whenever we can. He argues that the value of animal life must be respected like the value of human life, but also understands the complexity of such a harsh decision. Singer doesn't have a harsh stance on veganism, often downplaying many “radicals” in his field. However, he is criticised for this position as well, with fellow profesor Gary Francione stating 

Singer does not think that it is necessarily a problem that we use nonhumans for human purposes because he does not regard the killing of animals as necessarily immoral. According to Singer, animals (with the exception of nonhuman great apes and perhaps a few other species) are not self-aware and do not really care that we use them but only about how we use them. This leads Singer to say that it may be morally acceptable to be “conscientious omnivores” if we are careful to eat only animals who have been raised and killed in a “humane” manner.

Francione, like many more hardline vegan activists, view going vegan as a necessity to stop the cruelty of animals. These Abolitionist Vegans see going vegan as the moral good that can and hs to be done to reduce cruelty,not in a way to reduce suffering but to end it. After all, Singer’s Approach only seeks to minimize suffering caused all over Earth, and views any good faith approach as “good enough” in many ways, which is often to the detriment of the vegan argument.

Vegetarianism is a complex topic that is largely ignored, but I feel this is the wrong way of approaching it. In embracing the Singer approach, much less suffering in the world can be done, as factory farming is decreased and one watches what they eat to try to always eat ethically. However, maybe the cruelty inflicted by factory farming poses the question as to whether or not the immense suffering is worth the steaks.

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