📜The Moral Obligation
The positive argument for why veganism is a moral obligation
Last updated
The positive argument for why veganism is a moral obligation
Last updated
Many other animals are sentient/conscious just like us.
To produce meat, sentient animals are murdered at a fraction of their lifespan. To produce dairy and eggs, sentient animals are raped and also murdered. Living conditions are often extremely poor in order to increase efficiency and profits. This occurs both in factory farming and in small-scale, local farming. Therefore, harm is caused to produce animal products. Harm is also caused in many other forms, such as animal testing. These practices are consistent all over the world.
There are still some animal deaths even in plant agriculture, but the deaths are drastically lower than in animal agriculture. Data substantiates that vegans kill drastically fewer animals than non-vegans do.
We have no need for animal products in civilized society - not for health, the environment, or any other reason - therefore this harm is needless. In fact, animal products are destructive to the aforementioned while plants are more sustainable, healthful, and affordable. Therefore it is practicable to not participate in causing this harm as a motivating factor in supply and demand.
Needlessly harming sentient individuals is already axiomatically considered unethical by almost everyone, and there are no known ethical frameworks that contradict this that aren't societally self-destructive. Purchasing animal products causes harm to sentient individuals, almost always needlessly, since there is the alternative of purchasing plant-based food instead. Therefore, it is unethical to purchase animal products, as far as practicable. In other words, it is a moral obligation to be vegan - to hold and practice the moral philosophy of not participating in causing needless harm or rights violations to sentient individuals, as far as practicable, regardless of species.
There is no evidence for plant sentience, so harming plants is not unethical. However, even if plants were sentient, breeding and killing animals kills more plants than simply being vegan anyway. This is because those animals must eat plants to grow, and transferring energy between systems always has inefficiencies. Trophic levels and food conversion ratios substantiate this.