For example if you claim to prefer non-existence of animals to them being used as food, then you clearly must support destruction of all nature reserves, as that’s exactly the same choice. And if you’re against animal suffering, you’d be totally happy to eat cows genetically modified not to have pain receptors. And so on. All positions never taken by any vegetarians.
I don’t agree with the premise of the first position, but I agree wholeheartedly with the second (well, replacing “pain receptors” with a complete rework of the mammalian brain and nervous system, since just removing pain receptors is a very limited kind of alleviation of suffering. After all, I could remove your literal pain receptors and lock you in a 6x6 cell for your whole life, and you’d still be suffering.)
I hope now you’ll never again have to say it’s a position never taken by any vegetarian.
I second Yvain on both. Besides, even if taw’s claim that vegetarians never take those positions were true, it would not imply that none of them is behaving consistently with their alleged values. It could simply be that some vegetarians decisions were over-determined. In other words, a person could have two reasons not to eat meat, each of which was sufficient.
well, replacing “pain receptors” with a complete rework of the mammalian brain and nervous system, since just removing pain receptors is a very limited kind of alleviation of suffering. After all, I could remove your literal pain receptors and lock you in a 6x6 cell for your whole life, and you’d still be suffering.)
As an aside, what you’re describing here would be (to my mind) ethically indistinguishable from vat-grown meat.
I don’t agree with the premise of the first position, but I agree wholeheartedly with the second (well, replacing “pain receptors” with a complete rework of the mammalian brain and nervous system, since just removing pain receptors is a very limited kind of alleviation of suffering. After all, I could remove your literal pain receptors and lock you in a 6x6 cell for your whole life, and you’d still be suffering.)
I hope now you’ll never again have to say it’s a position never taken by any vegetarian.
I second Yvain on both. Besides, even if taw’s claim that vegetarians never take those positions were true, it would not imply that none of them is behaving consistently with their alleged values. It could simply be that some vegetarians decisions were over-determined. In other words, a person could have two reasons not to eat meat, each of which was sufficient.
As an aside, what you’re describing here would be (to my mind) ethically indistinguishable from vat-grown meat.