View source for Ethics of eating meat

{{Short description|Food ethics topic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Animal rights sidebar}}
[[File:FoodMeat.jpg|thumb|Various types of meat]]
Conversations regarding the '''ethics of eating meat''' are focused on whether or not it is moral to eat non-human [[animal]]s. People who abstain from eating [[meat]] are generally known as "[[Vegetarianism|vegetarians]]" and people who avoid all [[Animal product|animal by-products]] are known as “[[Veganism|vegans]]”. They avoid meat for a variety of reasons, including taste preference, [[animal welfare]], [[Value (ethics and social sciences)#Conflict|ethical reasons]], [[religion]], the [[environmental impact of meat production]] (''[[environmental vegetarianism]]''), [[health]] considerations,<ref name="vrg.org">{{cite journal |last= American Dietetic Association |author-link= American Dietetic Association |date= 2009|title= Position Paper of the American Dietatic Association: Vegetarian Diets|url= http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/2009_ADA_position_paper.pdf|journal= [[Journal of the American Dietetic Association]]|volume= 109|issue= 7|pages= 1266–1282|doi= 10.1016/j.jada.2009.05.027|pmid=19562864|s2cid= 7906168 }}</ref> and [[antimicrobial resistance]].<ref name=":4">{{cite news |last=Harvey |first=Fiona |author-link=Fiona Harvey |date=29 April 2019 |title=Antibiotic resistance as big a threat as climate change – chief medic |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/29/antibiotic-resistance-as-big-threat-climate-change-chief-medic-sally-davies |access-date=2024-10-12 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Individuals who promote meat consumption do so for a number of reasons, such as health, cultural traditions, religious beliefs,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Easter Symbols and Traditions|url=https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols|access-date=2021-12-24|website=HISTORY}}</ref> and scientific arguments that support the practice.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Klurfeld|first=David M|date=2018-07-07|title=What is the role of meat in a healthy diet?|journal=Animal Frontiers: The Review Magazine of Animal Agriculture|volume=8|issue=3|pages=5–10|doi=10.1093/af/vfy009|issn=2160-6056|pmc=7015455|pmid=32071794}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-11-15|title=Are we supposed to be vegetarian?|url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320047|access-date=2021-12-24|website=[[Medical News Today]]|language=en}}</ref>

A common argument used in the [[animal rights movement]] is the [[argument from marginal cases]], asserting that non-human animals should have the moral status similar to that of marginal case human beings such as human infants, the senile, the comatose, and the cognitively disabled. Proponents argue that there are no morally relevant traits that these marginal humans possess that animals lack.

In addition to flesh, [[vegans]] also abstain from other [[animal product]]s, such as dairy products, honey and eggs, for similar reasons. "[[Ethical omnivorism|Ethical omnivores]]" are individuals who object to the practices underlying the [[animal husbandry|production of meat]], as opposed to the act of consuming meat itself. In this respect, many people who abstain from certain kinds of meat eating and animal products do not take issue with meat consumption in general, provided that the meat and animal products are produced in a specific manner.<ref>{{Citation|last=Doggett|first=Tyler|title=Moral Vegetarianism|date=2018|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/vegetarianism/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Fall 2018|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=2021-12-24}}</ref> Ethical omnivores may object to rearing animals for meat in [[factory farm]]s, killing animals in ways that cause pain, and feeding animals unnecessary antibiotics or hormones. To this end, they may avoid meats such as [[veal]], [[foie gras]], meat from animals that were not [[free range]], animals that were fed antibiotics or hormones, etc.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gray |first=Louise |title=Life after Veganuary: the ethical guide to eating meat, eggs and dairy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/feb/04/life-after-veganuary-the-ethical-guide-to-eating-meat-eggs-and-dairy |date=2020-02-04 |access-date=2024-10-12 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

In a 2014 survey of 406 US philosophy professors, approximately 60% of [[ethicist]]s and 45% of non-ethicist philosophers said it was at least somewhat "morally bad" to eat meat from mammals.<ref name="Schwitzgebel Rust">{{cite journal | last1=Schwitzgebel | first1=Eric | last2=Rust | first2=Joshua | title=The moral behavior of ethics professors: Relationships among self-reported behavior, expressed normative attitude, and directly observed behavior | journal=Philosophical Psychology | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=27 | issue=3 | date=2013-01-22 | issn=0951-5089 | doi=10.1080/09515089.2012.727135 | pages=293–327| s2cid=144304490 }}</ref> A 2020 survey of 1,812 published English-language philosophers found that 48% said it was permissible to eat animals in ordinary circumstances, while 45% said it was not.<ref name="Weinberg 2021">{{cite web | title=What Philosophers Believe: Results from the 2020 PhilPapers Survey |author=Justin Weinberg | website=Daily Nous | date=2021-11-01 | url=https://dailynous.com/2021/11/01/what-philosophers-believe-results-from-the-2020-philpapers-survey/ | access-date=2021-12-31}}</ref> The ''[[World Scientists' Warning to Humanity]]'' (2017), the most co-signed scientific journal article in history, called (among other things) for a transition to [[Plant-based diet|plant-based]] diets in order to combat [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-01-15|title=We Ignore Urgent Global Warnings At Our Peril|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/david-suzuki/we-ignore-urgent-global-warnings-at-our-peril_a_23322091/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=HuffPost|language=en}}</ref>

== Overview of arguments for and against meat eating ==
[[File:Slaughterhouse cattle bodies.jpg|thumb|Cattle carcasses in a [[slaughterhouse]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adaptt.org/killcounter.html |title=The Animal Kill Counter << ADAPTT :: Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow |publisher=adaptt.org |date=24 December 2013 |access-date=2014-05-19}}</ref>]]
Conversations regarding the ethics of meat eating have been ongoing for thousands of years, possibly longer. [[Pythagoras]], a Greek [[mathematician]] and [[philosopher]] who lived during the 6th century BC, made the case against eating animals on grounds of their having souls like humans. Taking an entirely different approach, [[Plato]], an Athenian philosopher who lived during the 4th century BC, argued that meat is a luxury item that requires a lot of land to procure. As a result, he stated that the unmoderated consumption of meat would lead to conflict over land and, ultimately, an unsustainable society.<ref name=":1" /> [[Xenophon]] expressed similar concerns to Plato:<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Xenophon, Memorabilia, Book 3, chapter 14, section 4|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0208:book=3:chapter=14:section=4|access-date=2021-12-27|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dombrowski|first=Daniel|date=2011|title=Was Plato a Vegetarian?|url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/APEIRON.1984.18.1.1/pdf|journal=Apeiron|volume=18|pages=4|doi=10.1515/APEIRON.1984.18.1.1|s2cid=147281222|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text="Aye, and when others pray for a good wheat harvest, he, presumably, would pray for a good meat supply." The young man, guessing that these remarks of Socrates applied to him, did not stop eating his meat, but took some bread with it. When Socrates observed this, he cried: "Watch the fellow, you who are near him, and see whether he treats the bread as his meat or the meat as his bread."|title=''[[Memorabilia (Xenophon)|Memorabilia]]''|source=book 3, chapter 14<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Xenophon, Memorabilia, Book 3, chapter 14, section 4|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0208:book=3:chapter=14:section=4|access-date=2021-12-27|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>|author=[[Xenophon]]}}

[[Plutarch]], a [[Middle Platonism|Middle Platonist]] philosopher and vegetarian, dedicated a section of his ''[[Moralia]]'' to the consumption of animals. He argued that flesh-eating is not a necessity but a luxury rooted in gluttony and desensitization to violence. He emphasized the cruelty of killing animals for pleasure, contrasting it with the simplicity and sufficiency of plant-based sustenance. Furthermore, Plutarch argued that, since there was a possibility that [[Metempsychosis|souls could migrate from human bodies to animal bodies after death]], that human and animal lives should be beholden to the same standard of care:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plutarch • On Meat-Eating (I) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_esu_carnium*/1.html |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text="Kill it! It's only a brute beast"; but the other says, "Stop! What if the soul of some relative or friend has found its way into this body?" — Good God! Of course the risk is equal or much the same in the two cases — if I refuse to eat flesh, or if I, disbelieving, kill my child or some other relative!"|title=''[[Moralia]]''|source=<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plutarch • On Meat-Eating (II) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_esu_carnium*/2.html |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>|author=[[Plutarch]]}}

[[René Descartes|Rene Descartes]], a 17th-century French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, disagreed with the aforementioned stances. He argued that animals were not conscious. As a result, he asserted that there is nothing ethically wrong with consuming meat or causing animals physical pain. [[Immanuel Kant]] also argued that there is nothing ethically wrong with meat consumption. He claimed that it was personhood that distinguished humans from animals and that, since animals are not actual persons, there was nothing wrong with killing or consuming them.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=McGregor|first=Joan|title=What philosophers have to say about eating meat|url=http://theconversation.com/what-philosophers-have-to-say-about-eating-meat-100444|access-date=2021-12-24|website=The Conversation|date=7 August 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Peter Singer]], a [[Princeton University]] and [[University of Melbourne]] professor and pioneer of the [[animal liberation movement]], argues that, because non-human animals feel, they should be treated according to [[utilitarianism|utilitarian ethics]]. In his ethical philosophy of what it is to be a [[personism|"person"]], Singer ultimately argues that [[livestock]] animals feel enough to deserve better treatment than they receive. Singer's work has since been widely built upon by philosophers who agree<ref name="Hodder & Stoughton">[[Mark Rowlands]] (2013). ''Animal rights: All that matters''. [http://www.allthatmattersbooks.com/book/animal-rights-all-that-matters Hodder & Stoughton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701174605/http://www.allthatmattersbooks.com/book/animal-rights-all-that-matters |date=1 July 2014 }}</ref> and who do not.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Animal Rights and Wrongs|last=Scruton|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Scruton|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]]|year=2006|isbn=9781441199157|location=New York}}</ref> His essential philosophies have been largely adopted by animal rights advocates<ref>{{Cite book|title=Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights|last1=Donaldson|first1=Sue|last2=Kymlicka|first2=Will|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0199599660|location=Oxford|oclc=713621604}}</ref> as well as by ethical vegetarians and [[Veganism|vegans]].

Many other modern thinkers have questioned the morality not only of the double standard underlying [[speciesism]] but also the double standard underlying the fact that people support treatment of cows, pigs, and chickens in ways that they would never allow with pet dogs, cats, or birds.<ref name="Hodder & Stoughton" />

[[Nick Zangwill]], a British [[philosopher]] and [[Honorary title (academic)|honorary research professor]] at [[University College London]] and [[University of Lincoln|Lincoln University]], disagrees with Singer's conclusions about the moral necessity of not eating meat. In ''[[Our Moral Duty to Eat Meat]]'', which was published by [[Cambridge University Press]], Zangwill argues that the existence of domesticated animals depends on the practice of eating them, and that meat eating has historically benefitted many millions of animals and given them good lives. Consequently, he claims that eating non-human animal meat is not merely permissible but also good for many millions of animals. However, Zangwill clarifies that this argument does not apply to factory farm animals, as they do not have good lives. Thus, when he speaks of meat eating being justified, he means only meat from animals that overall have a good life.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zangwill|first=Nick|date=2021|title=Our Moral Duty to Eat Meat|journal=Journal of the American Philosophical Association|language=en|volume=7|issue=3|pages=295–311|doi=10.1017/apa.2020.21|s2cid=236309023|issn=2053-4477|doi-access=free}}</ref> Proponents of meat eating who subscribe to Zangwill's views argue that practices like well-managed [[Free range|free-range]] rearing and the consumption of hunted animals, particularly from species whose natural predators have been significantly eliminated, could satisfy the demand for mass-produced, ethically sourced meat.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pluhar|first1=E. B.|year=2010|title=Meat and morality: Alternatives to factory farming|url=http://ethik.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/inst_ethik_wiss_dialog/Pluhar__E._2010._Meat.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics|volume=23|issue=5|pages=455–468|doi=10.1007/s10806-009-9226-x|bibcode=2010JAEE...23..455P |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106031527/http://ethik.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/inst_ethik_wiss_dialog/Pluhar__E._2010._Meat.pdf|archive-date=6 January 2014|s2cid=154844655}}</ref>

Ethical vegetarians say that the reasons for not hurting or killing animals are similar to the reasons for not hurting or killing humans. They argue that killing an animal, like killing a human, can only be justified in extreme circumstances, such as when one's life is threatened. Consuming a living creature just for its taste, for convenience, or out of habit is not justifiable. Some ethicists have added that humans, unlike other animals, are morally conscious of their behavior and have a choice; this is why there are laws governing human behavior, and why it is subject to moral standards.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Benatar|first=David|s2cid=145781996|date=February 2001|title=Why the Naive Argument against Moral Vegetarianism Really is Naive|journal=Environmental Values|volume=10|issue=1|pages=103–112|doi=10.3197/096327101129340769}}</ref> Ethical vegetarian concerns have become more widespread in developed countries, particularly because of the spread of factory farming, more open and graphic documentation of what human meat-eating entails for the animal,<ref>Eisnitz, G. A. (2009). ''Slaughterhouse: The shocking story of greed, neglect, and inhumane treatment inside the US [[meat industry]]''. [http://www.meat.org.uk/slaught.html Prometheus Books]. Chicago</ref> and environmental consciousness. Reducing the worldwide massive [[food waste]] would also contribute to reduce meat waste and therefore save animals.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethhoffman/2013/09/16/food-waste-a-key-to-ending-world-hunger/#13ebe0574865|title=Food Waste: Key To Ending World Hunger|last=Hoffman|first=Beth|date=16 September 2013|work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/food_waste_en|title=Food Waste|last=Anonymous|date=2016-10-17|website=Food Safety - European Commission|language=en|access-date=2019-11-22}}</ref>

Some have described unequal treatment of humans and animals as a form of [[speciesism]] such as [[anthropocentrism]] or human-centeredness. [[Val Plumwood]] (1993, 1996) has argued that anthropocentrism plays a role in green theory that is analogous to [[androcentrism]] in feminist theory and [[ethnocentrism]] in anti-racist theory. Plumwood calls human-centredness "anthropocentrism" to emphasize this parallel. By analogy with [[racism]] and [[sexism]], [[Melanie Joy]] has dubbed meat-eating "[[carnism]]". The [[animal rights movement]] seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and an end to their use in the [[animal testing|research]], food, [[Fur farming|clothing]], and entertainment industries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://animalsarenotobjects.ca|title=Manifesto for the Evolution of Animals' Legal Status in the Civil Code of Quebec|website=animalsarenotobjects.ca|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140621194408/http://animalsarenotobjects.ca/|archive-date=21 June 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10771361/Pets-no-longer-just-part-of-furniture-in-France.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10771361/Pets-no-longer-just-part-of-furniture-in-France.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Pets No Longer Just Part of Furniture in France|last=Chazan|first=David|date=16 April 2014|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Animal consciousness==
{{See also|Animal consciousness|Emotion in animals}}
[[File:Shorthorn Heifers DSCN2089b.jpg|thumb|Shorthorn heifers, a typical multipurpose breed of cattle]]

[[Jane Goodall]], a [[ethologist]], stated in the 2009 book ''The Inner World of Farm Animals'' that "farm animals feel pleasure and sadness, excitement and resentment, depression, fear, and pain. They are much more sensitive and intelligent than we ever imagined."<ref>Goodall J (April 2009), ''The Inner World of Farm Animals''. Stewart, Tabori and Chang.</ref> In 2012, a group of well known [[neuroscientist]]s stated in the "Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness in Non-Human Animals" that all mammals and birds (such as farm animals), and other animals, possess the neurological substrates that generate consciousness and are able to experience affective states.<ref>Low P, Panksepp J, Reiss D, Edelman D, Van Swinderen B, Koch C (July 2012). "The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness".</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/magazine/zoo-animals-and-their-discontents.html|title=Zoo Animals and their Discontents|last=Halberstadt|first=Alex|date=3 July 2014|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]]}}</ref>

[[Eugene Linden (author)|Eugene Linden]], author of ''The Parrot's Lament'', suggests that many examples of animal behavior and intelligence seem to indicate both emotion and a level of consciousness that we would normally ascribe only to our own species. Philosopher [[Daniel Dennett]] counters:

{{blockquote|Consciousness requires a certain kind of informational organization that does not seem to be "hard-wired" in humans, but is instilled by human culture. Moreover, consciousness is not a black-or-white, all-or-nothing type of phenomenon, as is often assumed. The differences between humans and other species are so great that speculations about animal consciousness seem ungrounded. Many authors simply assume that an animal like a bat has a point of view, but there seems to be little interest in exploring the details involved.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Dennett|first= Daniel C|date= 1995|title= Animal consciousness: what matters and why|url= http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/dennett_anim_csness.html|journal= [[Social Research]]|volume= 62|issue= 3}}</ref>}}

Philosophers [[Peter Singer]] (Princeton), [[Jeff McMahan (philosopher)|Jeff McMahan]] (Oxford) and others also counter that the issue is not one of consciousness, but of [[sentience]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=McMahan|first1=Jeff|title=The Ethics of Killing|date=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

===Pain===
{{See also|Pain in animals|Pain in invertebrates|Animal cruelty and the Holocaust analogy}}

A related argument revolves around non-human organisms' ability to feel pain. If animals could be shown to suffer, as humans do, then many of the arguments against human suffering could be extended to animals.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Carter | first1 = Alan | year = 2005 | title = Animals, Pain and Morality | journal = Journal of Applied Philosophy | volume = 22 | issue = 1| pages = 17–22 | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-5930.2005.00289.x | pmid=15948329}}</ref> One such reaction is [[transmarginal inhibition]], a phenomenon observed in humans and some animals akin to [[mental breakdown]]. John Webster, emeritus professor of [[animal husbandry]] at the [[University of Bristol]], observed:
{{blockquote|People have assumed that intelligence is linked to the ability to suffer and that because animals have smaller brains they suffer less than humans. That is a pathetic piece of logic, sentient animals have the capacity to experience pleasure and are motivated to seek [it. One] only [has] to watch how cows and lambs both seek and enjoy pleasure when they lie with their heads raised to the sun on a perfect English summer's [day, just] like humans.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060106182350/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1502933,00.html "The secret life of moody cows"], John Webster.</ref>}}

Various programs operate around the world that promote the notion that animals raised for food can be treated humanely. Some spokespeople for the factory farming industry argue that the animals are better off in total confinement. F J "Sonny" Faison, president of Carroll's Foods, stated:
{{blockquote|They're in state-of-the-art confinement facilities. The conditions that we keep these animals in are much more humane than when they were out in the field. Today they're in housing that is environmentally controlled in many respects. And the feed is right there for them all the time, and water, fresh water. They're looked after in some of the best conditions, because the healthier and [more] content that animal, the better it grows. So we're very interested in their well-being up to an extent.<ref name=Scully255>Scully, Matthew. ''Dominion'', St. Martin's Griffin, 2002, pp. 255–256.</ref>}}

In response, animal welfare advocates ask for evidence that any factory-bred animal is better off caged than free.<ref>Matheny, G., & Leahy, C. (2007). [http://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Farm-Animal-Welfare-Legislation-and-Trade.pdf Farm-animal welfare, legislation, and trade]. ''Law and contemporary problems'', 325–358.</ref> [[Farm Sanctuary]] argues that commodifying and [[Animal slaughter|slaughtering animals]] is incompatible with the definition of "humane".<ref>[http://spot.humaneresearch.org/content/truth-behind-labels-farm-animal-welfare-standards-and-labeling-practices The Truth Behind The Labels: Farm Animal Welfare Standards and Labeling Practices] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106041409/http://spot.humaneresearch.org/content/truth-behind-labels-farm-animal-welfare-standards-and-labeling-practices|date=6 January 2014}} Farm Sanctuary</ref> [[Animal ethics|Animal ethicists]] such as [[Gary Francione]] have argued that reducing animal suffering is not enough; it needs to be made [[animal law|illegal]] and [[abolitionism (animal rights)|abolished]]. [[Steven Best]] also challenges this notion, and argues that factory farm conditions "resemble the mechanized production lines of concentration camps" where animals are "forced to produce maximal quantities of meat, milk, and eggs—an intense coercion that takes place through physical confinement but also now through chemical and genetic manipulation. As typical in Nazi compounds, this forced and intensive labor terminates in death."<ref>{{cite book|last=Best|first=Steven|title=The Politics of Total Liberation: Revolution for the 21st Century|chapter=The New Abolitionism: Capitalism, Slavery, and Animal Liberation|date=2014|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|isbn=978-1137471116|doi=10.1057/9781137440723_2|page=35}}</ref> [[David Nibert]] says that sentient animals are treated as mere inanimate objects and "biomachines" in factory farms, or [[Concentrated animal feeding operation|CAFOs]], where they are often confined in darkness with no opportunity for engaging in natural activity, are mutilated to prevent pathological behaviors in overcrowded conditions, and genetically manipulated to the point where many cannot even stand.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nibert|first=David|title=Animal Oppression and Human Violence: Domesecration, Capitalism, and Global Conflict|url=https://cup.columbia.edu/book/animal-oppression-and-human-violence/9780231151894|date=2013|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|isbn=978-0231151894|location=|page=189}}</ref> [[David Benatar]] contends that of the 63 billion land animals killed annually to provide humans with meat products, the vast majority of them die painful and stressful deaths. He said:

{{blockquote| Broiler chickens and spent layer hens are suspended upside down on conveyor belts and have their throats slit. Pigs and other animals are beaten and shocked to coax them to move along in the slaughterhouses, where their throats are cut or stabbed, sometimes after stunning but sometimes not.<ref name="Benatar2015">{{cite book |last=Benatar|first=David|author-link=David Benatar|editor1=S. Hannan |editor2=S. Brennan|editor3=R. Vernon|date=2015|title=Permissible Progeny?: The Morality of Procreation and Parenting|chapter=The Misanthropic Argument for Anti-natalism|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=44|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6dBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|isbn=978-0199378128|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199378111.003.0002
}}</ref>}}

[[File:Alex Hershaft.jpg|thumb|Vegan Holocaust survivor [[Alex Hershaft]] (pictured) has [[Animal cruelty and the Holocaust analogy|compared the treatment of livestock to the Holocaust]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dolsten|first=Josefin|date=7 October 2016|title=Holocaust survivor likens treatment of livestock to Shoah|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/holocaust-survivor-likens-treatment-of-livestock-to-shoah/|access-date=2021-12-27|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US}}</ref> and stated that the reason he survived was to end the oppression of animals.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gatenby|first=Alex|date=2017-05-23|title=Vegan Holocaust survivor wants to end the oppression of animals|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/vegan-holocaust-survivor-says-the-reason-he-survived-was-to-end-the-oppression-of-animals-a3543956.html|access-date=2021-12-27|website=www.standard.co.uk|language=en}}</ref>]]
Writing in ''[[Current Affairs (magazine)|Current Affairs]]'', [[Nathan J. Robinson]] describes the billions of non-human animals that suffer and die at the hands of human beings for consumption as a "holocaust" and, citing [[Jeremy Bentham|Jeremy Bentham's]] formulation "The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, ''Can they suffer''?" contends that it is "morally reprehensible" and "deeply wrong".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2018/01/meat-and-the-h-word|title=Meat and the H-Word|last= Robinson|first=Nathan J.|date=17 January 2018 |website=[[Current Affairs (magazine)|Current Affairs]]|access-date=18 January 2018}}</ref> Conversely, [[Jan Narveson]] argues that under certain theories of utilitarianism, positive utility can be increased by having more living organisms to experience it and thus by increasing the animal population so it can later be eaten, these theories could potentially justify raising animals for the purposes of consumption.<ref>Narveson, Jan. Moral matters. Broadview Press, 1999, page140-141</ref> Critics of ethical vegetarianism say that there is no agreement on where to draw the line between organisms that can and cannot feel. Justin Leiber, a philosophy professor at [[Oxford University]], writes:

{{blockquote|[[Montaigne]] is [[wikt:ecumenical#Adjective|ecumenical]] in this respect, claiming consciousness for spiders and ants, and even writing of our duties to trees and plants. Singer and [[Samuel Clarke|Clarke]] agree in denying consciousness to sponges. Singer locates the distinction somewhere between the shrimp and the oyster. He, with rather considerable convenience for one who is thundering hard accusations at others, slides by the case of insects and spiders and bacteria, they pace Montaigne, apparently and rather conveniently do not feel pain. The intrepid Midgley, on the other hand, seems willing to speculate about the subjective experience of tapeworms ... [[Thomas Nagel|Nagel]] ... appears to draw the line at flounders and wasps, though more recently he speaks of the inner life of cockroaches.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Leiber | first1 = Justin | year = 1988 | title = Cartesian Linguistics? | journal = Philosophia | volume = 118 | issue = 4| pages = 309–46 | doi = 10.1007/BF02380646 | s2cid = 189835510 }}</ref>}}

There are some who argue that, although only suffering animals feel anguish, plants, like all organisms, have evolved mechanisms for survival. No living organism can be described as "wanting" to die for another organism's sustenance.<ref>{{cite web|author=Natalie Angier|date=21 December 2009|title=Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/science/22angi.html?_r=0|access-date=20 February 2017|work=The New York Times}}</ref> In an article written for ''The New York Times'', Carol Kaesuk Yoon argues:

{{blockquote|When a plant is wounded, its body immediately kicks into protection mode. It releases a bouquet of volatile chemicals, which in some cases have been shown to induce neighboring plants to pre-emptively step up their own chemical defenses and in other cases to lure in predators of the beasts that may be causing the damage to the plants. Inside the plant, repair systems are engaged and defenses are mounted, the molecular details of which scientists are still working out, but which involve signaling molecules coursing through the body to rally the cellular troops, even the enlisting of the genome itself, which begins churning out defense-related proteins ... If you think about it, though, why would we expect any organism to lie down and die for our dinner? Organisms have evolved to do everything in their power to avoid being extinguished. How long would any lineage be likely to last if its members effectively didn't care if you killed them?<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/science/15food.html?pagewanted=all "No Face, but Plants Like Life Too"], Carol Kaesuk Yoon, ''The New York Times''</ref>}}

Supporters of ethical vegetarianism argue that support for [[plant rights]] obligates abstaining from meat, due to the [[Animal feed|use of plants to rear animals]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Regan|first=Tom|url=https://archive.org/details/animalrightshuma0000rega|title=Animal rights, human wrongs: an introduction to moral philosophy|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2003|isbn=0-7425-3354-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/animalrightshuma0000rega/page/101 101]|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2010-07-07|title=Can plants feel pain?|url=https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/what-about-plants/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=PETA|language=en-US}}</ref> For example, the [[feed conversion ratio]] for beef can require 4.5–7.5&nbsp;kg of plant food to be used to produce 1&nbsp;kg of beef.<ref name="Shike2013">Dan W. Shike, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Driftless Region Beef Conference 2013 [https://web.archive.org/web/20160616072736/http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=driftlessconference Beef Cattle Feed Efficiency]</ref> [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals|PETA]] states that "Whether it can be proved that plants experience pain or not, vegan foods are the compassionate choice because they require the deaths of fewer plants ''and'' animals."<ref name=":0" /> Singer observed that the ethical argument for vegetarianism may not apply to all non-vegetarian food.<ref>{{cite book|last=Singer|first=Peter|title=Animal Liberation, A New Ethics for our Treatment of Animals|publisher=Random House|year=1975|location=New York}}</ref> For example, any arguments against causing pain to animals would not apply to animals that do not feel pain. It has also often been noted that, while it takes a lot more grain to feed some animals such as cows for human consumption than it takes to feed a human directly, not all animals consume land plants (or other animals that consume land plants). For example, [[oyster]]s consume underwater plankton and algae. In 2010, Christopher Cox wrote:

{{blockquote|Biologically, oysters are not in the plant kingdom, but when it comes to [[ethical eating]], they are almost indistinguishable from plants. Oyster farms account for 95 percent of all oyster consumption and have a minimal negative impact on their ecosystems; there are even nonprofit projects devoted to cultivating oysters as a way to improve water quality. Since so many oysters are farmed, there's little danger of overfishing. No forests are cleared for oysters, no fertilizer is needed, and no grain goes to waste to feed them—they have a diet of plankton, which is about as close to the bottom of the food chain as you can get. Oyster cultivation also avoids many of the negative side effects of plant agriculture: There are no bees needed to pollinate oysters, no pesticides required to kill off other insects, and for the most part, oyster farms operate without the collateral damage of accidentally killing other animals during harvesting.<ref name="Cox">[http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2010/04/consider_the_oyster.html "It's OK for vegans to eat oysters"], Christopher Cox, 2010, ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''</ref>}}

Cox went on to suggest that oysters would be acceptable to eat, even by strict ethical criteria, if they did not feel, saying that "while you could give them the benefit of the doubt, you could also say that unless some new evidence of a capacity for pain emerges, the doubt is so slight that there is no good reason for avoiding eating sustainably produced oysters." Cox added that, although he believes in some of the ethical reasons for vegetarianism, he is not strictly a vegan or even a vegetarian because he consumes oysters.

===Influences on views of animal consciousness===
When people choose to do things about which they are ambivalent and which they would have difficulty justifying, they experience a state of [[cognitive dissonance]], which can lead to [[Rationalization (making excuses)|rationalization]], [[denial]], or even [[self-deception]]. For example, a 2011 experiment found that, when the harm that their meat-eating causes animals is explicitly brought to people's attention, they tend to rate those animals as possessing fewer mental capacities compared to when the harm is not brought to their attention. This is especially evident when people expect to eat meat in the near future. Such denial makes it less uncomfortable for people to eat animals. The data suggest that people who consume meat go to great lengths to try to resolve these moral inconsistencies between their beliefs and behaviour by adjusting their beliefs about what animals are capable of feeling.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Bastian|first1= Brock|last2= Loughnan|first2= Steve|last3= Haslam|first3= Nick|last4= Radke|first4= Helena R. M.|date= 2012|title= Don't Mind Meat? The Denial of Mind to Animals Used for Human Consumption|url= http://www2.psy.uq.edu.au/~uqbbast1/Bastian%20et%20al%20PSPB%20in%20press.pdf|journal= [[Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin]]|volume= 38|issue= 2|pages= 247–256|doi= 10.1177/0146167211424291|pmid= 21980158|s2cid= 22757046|access-date=2014-05-19}}</ref> This perception can lead to paradoxical conclusions about the ethics and comfort involved in preferring certain types of meat over others. For example, venison or meat from a wild deer generally has a much higher nutritional quality and a much lower carbon footprint than meat from domestically-raised animals. In addition, it can be virtually assured that the deer was never bred or raised in unnatural conditions, confined to a cage, fed an unnatural diet of grain, or injected with any artificial hormones; however, since the necessary act of killing a deer to procure the venison is generally much more apparent to anyone who encounters this sort of meat, some people can be even more uncomfortable with eating this than meat from animals raised on factory farms. Many ethical vegetarians and ethical meat-eaters argue that it is behaviour rather than supporting beliefs that should be adjusted.

==Environmental argument==
{{Main|Environmental vegetarianism|Environmental impact of meat production}}
[[File:Tractors in Potato Field.jpg|thumb|A [[Monoculture|monocultivated]] potato field]]

Some people choose to not eat meat for environmental reasons. According to a 2006 report by LEAD ''[[Livestock's Long Shadow]]'', "the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global."<ref name="Livestock">{{Citation |last1= Steinfeld|first1= Henning|last2= Gerber|first2= Pierre|last3= Wassenaar|first3= Tom|last4= Castel|first4= Vincent|last5= Rosales|first5= Mauricio|last6= de Haan|first6= Cees|year= 2006|title= Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options|publisher= FAO|location= Rome|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/climatechange/doc/FAO%20report%20executive%20summary.pdf }}</ref> The livestock sector is probably the largest source of water pollution (due to animal wastes, fertilizers, and pesticides), contributing to [[eutrophication]], human health problems, and the emergence of [[Antibiotics#Resistance|antibiotic resistance]]. It accounts also for over 8% of global human water use. Livestock production is the biggest human use of land, and it accounts for around 25% of the global land surface, or two-thirds of all agricultural land.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fao.org/sustainability/news/detail/en/c/1274219/|title=Land use in agriculture by the numbers |date=7 May 2020|work=[[FAO]]|access-date=26 April 2022}}</ref> It is probably the leading player in [[biodiversity loss]], as it causes [[deforestation]], [[land degradation]], pollution, [[climate change]], and overfishing.<ref name=Livestock/><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.science.org/content/article/meat-eaters-may-speed-worldwide-species-extinction-study-warns|title=Meat-eaters may speed worldwide species extinction, study warns|first= Virginia |last=Morell |date=11 August 2015|work=[[Science (magazine)|Science]]|access-date=3 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first1=B.|last1=Machovina|first2=K. J.|last2=Feeley|first3=W. J.|last3=Ripple|year=2015|title=Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption|journal=[[Science of the Total Environment]]|volume= 536|pages=419–431|doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.022|pmid=26231772|bibcode=2015ScTEn.536..419M}}</ref>

A 2017 study by the [[World Wildlife Fund]] found that 60% of biodiversity loss can be attributed to the vast scale of feed crop cultivation needed to rear tens of billions of farm animals.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smithers |first=Rebecca |date=5 October 2017 |title=Vast animal-feed crops to satisfy our meat needs are destroying planet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/05/vast-animal-feed-crops-meat-needs-destroying-planet |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2024-10-12}}</ref> Livestock is also responsible for at least 20% of the world's [[greenhouse gas emissions]], which are the main cause of the current climate change. This is due to feed production, enteric fermentation from ruminants, manure storage and processing, and transportation of animal products.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3437e/i3437e.pdf|title=Tackling climate change through livestock|access-date=2019-11-22}}</ref> The greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production greatly exceeds the greenhouse gas emissions of any other human activity. Some authors argue that by far the best thing we can do to slow climate change is a global shift towards a vegetarian or vegan diet.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/Livestock%20and%20Climate%20Change.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=16 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417140859/http://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/Livestock%20and%20Climate%20Change.pdf |archive-date=17 April 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A 2017 study published in the journal ''[[Carbon Balance and Management]]'' found animal agriculture's global [[methane emissions]] are 11% higher than previously estimated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Wolf|first1=Julie|last2=Asrar |first2=Ghassem R. |last3= West|first3=Tristram O.|date=29 September 2017 |title=Revised methane emissions factors and spatially distributed annual carbon fluxes for global livestock|journal=[[Carbon Balance and Management]]|volume=12 |issue=16 |pages= 16|doi=10.1186/s13021-017-0084-y|pmid=28959823|pmc=5620025 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017CarBM..12...16W }}</ref> In November 2017, 15,364 world scientists signed a [[World Scientists' Warning to Humanity|warning to humanity]] calling for, among other things, "promoting dietary shifts towards mostly plant-based foods."<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Ripple WJ, Wolf C, Newsome TM, Galetti M, Alamgir M, Crist E, Mahmoud MI, Laurance WF|title=World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice|journal=[[BioScience]]|date=13 November 2017|volume=67|issue=12|pages=1026–1028|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix125|doi-access=free|hdl=11336/71342|hdl-access=free}}</ref> A 2019 report in ''[[The Lancet]]'' recommended that global meat consumption be reduced by 50 percent to [[Climate change mitigation|mitigate climate change]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Gibbens |first=Sarah |date=January 16, 2019 |title=Eating meat has 'dire' consequences for the planet, says report|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/commission-report-great-food-transformation-plant-diet-climate-change/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117010915/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/commission-report-great-food-transformation-plant-diet-climate-change/|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 January 2019|work=[[National Geographic]]|access-date=January 19, 2019 }}</ref>

Many developing countries, including China and India, are moving away from traditional [[plant-based diets]] to more meat-intensive diets as the result of modernization and [[globalization]], which has facilitated the spread of Western consumer cultures around the world. Around 166 to over 200 billion land and aquatic animals are consumed by the global population of over 8 billion every year, and meat consumption is projected to more than double by 2050 as the population grows to over 9 billion.<ref>{{cite book |last= Best|first=Steven|date=2014 |title=The Politics of Total Liberation: Revolution for the 21st Century|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|pages=97, 160 |isbn=978-1137471116|doi=10.1057/9781137440723|author-link=Steven Best}}</ref><ref name="Benatar2015"/> A 2018 study published in ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' states that meat consumption could rise by as much as 76% by 2050 as the result of [[human population growth]] and rising affluence, which will increase greenhouse gas emissions and further reduce biodiversity.<ref>{{cite news |last=Devlin |first=Hannah |author-link=Hannah Devlin |date=July 19, 2018 |title=Rising global meat consumption 'will devastate environment' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/19/rising-global-meat-consumption-will-devastate-environment |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2024-10-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Godfray|first1=H. Charles J.|last2=Aveyard|first2=Paul|display-authors=etal.|date=2018 |title=Meat consumption, health, and the environment|url= https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:cc174e1d-0e3e-43ce-9d3b-ad7e204d0845|journal=Science |volume=361 |issue=6399 |pages= |doi=10.1126/science.aam5324|pmid=30026199 |bibcode=2018Sci...361M5324G |s2cid=49895246 |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[David Attenborough]] warned in 2020 that "the planet can't support billions of meat-eaters."<ref>{{cite news |last=Dalton |first=Jane|date=August 26, 2020 |title=Go vegetarian to save wildlife and the planet, Sir David Attenborough urges |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/david-attenborough-vegetarian-vegan-meat-life-on-our-planet-netflix-wildlife-earth-a9689816.html |work=The Independent |access-date=February 4, 2021}}</ref>

Animals that feed on grain or rely on grazing require more water than grain crops.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kirby |first=Alex |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3559542.stm |title=Hungry world 'must eat less meat' |work=BBC News |date=16 August 2004 |access-date=2014-05-19}}</ref> Producing {{Convert|1|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of meat requires up to 15,000 liters of water.<ref name="UNWDR">{{Cite web|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000215492_eng|title=Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk|website=unesdoc.unesco.org|access-date=2019-11-22}}</ref> According to the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] (USDA), growing crops for farm animals requires nearly half of the US water supply and 80% of its agricultural land. Animals raised for food in the US consume 90% of the soy crop, 80% of the corn crop, and 70% of its grain.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/sb-statistical-bulletin/sb-973.aspx |title=USDA ERS - Major Uses of Land in the United States, 1997 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service |access-date=2014-05-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506071302/http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/sb-statistical-bulletin/sb-973.aspx |archive-date=6 May 2014 }}</ref> However, where an [[extensive farming]] system (as opposed to a feedlot) is used, some water and nutrients are returned to the soil to provide a benefit to the pasture. This cycling and processing of water and nutrients is less prevalent in most plant production systems, so may bring the efficiency rate of animal production closer to the efficiency of plant based agricultural systems.<ref>"Allan Savory: Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision Making." Thomas J. Elpel's Green University--Our Mission: To Change the World. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 March 2016</ref> In tracking food animal production from the feed through to the dinner table, the inefficiencies of meat, [[milk]], and [[egg]] production range from a 4:1 energy input to protein output ratio up to 54:1.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Aug97/livestock.hrs.html |title=U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat |publisher=Cornell University |date=7 August 1997 |work=Cornell Chronicle |access-date=2014-05-19}}</ref> The result is that producing animal-based food is typically much less efficient than the harvesting of grains, vegetables, [[legume]]s, seeds, and [[Fruit|fruits.]]

There are also environmentalist arguments in favor of the morality of eating meat. One such line of argument holds that sentience and individual welfare are less important to morality than the greater ecological good. Following environmentalist [[Aldo Leopold]]'s principle that the sole criterion for morality is preserving the "integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community", this position asserts that [[sustainable hunting]] and animal agriculture are environmentally healthy and therefore good.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Callicott|first1=J. Baird|title=Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair|journal=Environmental Ethics|date=1980|volume=2|issue=4<!-- |page=336 -->|pages=311–338|doi=10.5840/enviroethics19802424|url=http://www.pdcnet.org/8525737F00580E30/file/8813D88B6BDC1D56C12573E50035E78D/$FILE/enviroethics_1980_0002_0004_0023_0050.pdf|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Bost|first1=Jay|title=The Ethicist Contest Winner: Give Thanks for Meat|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/magazine/the-ethicist-contest-winner-give-thanks-for-meat.html |date=3 May 2012|work=The New York Times (editorial)}}</ref> Jay Bost, an [[Agroecology|agroecologist]] and winner of ''[[The New York Times]]''{{'}} essay contest on the ethics of eating meat, supports meat consumption, arguing that "eating meat raised in specific circumstances is ethical; eating meat raised in other circumstances is unethical" in regard to environmental usage. He proposes that if "ethical is defined as living in the most ecologically benign way, then in fairly specific circumstances, of which each eater must educate himself, eating meat is ethical." The specific circumstances he mentions include using animals to cycle nutrients and convert sun to food.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bost|first=Jay|date=3 May 2012|title=Give Thanks for Meat|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://nyti.ms/2jAqbyP|access-date=7 April 2013}}</ref>

==Religious traditions==
{{See also|Vegetarianism and religion}}
[[File:Status of cow slaughter in India.png|thumb|350x350px|Cow slaughter laws in various states of India]]
[[Hinduism]] holds vegetarianism as an ideal for three reasons: the principle of [[nonviolence]] ([[ahimsa]]) applied to animals; the intention to offer only "pure" (vegetarian) or [[sattva|sattvic]] food to a deity and then to receive it back as [[Prasāda|prasad]]; and the conviction that an insentient diet is beneficial for a healthy body and mind and that non-vegetarian food is detrimental for the mind and for spiritual development. [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] vegetarianism has similar strictures against hurting animals. The actual practices of Hindus and Buddhists vary according to their community and according to regional traditions. [[Jain vegetarianism|Jains]] are especially rigorous about not harming sentient organisms.

[[Sharia|Islamic Law]] and [[Judaism]] have dietary guidelines called [[Halal]] and [[Kashrut]], respectively. In Judaism, meat that may be consumed according to ''[[halakha]]'' (Jewish law) is termed ''[[kosher]]''; meat that is not compliant with Jewish law is called ''[[treif]]''. Causing unnecessary pain to animals is prohibited by the principle of [[tza'ar ba'alei chayim]]. While it is neither required nor prohibited for Jews to eat meat, a number of medieval scholars of Judaism, such as [[Joseph Albo]] and [[Isaac Arama]], regard [[Jewish vegetarianism|vegetarianism]] as a moral ideal. Similarly, [[Islamic dietary laws]] permit the consumption of certain animals at the condition that their meat is not obtained through prohibited methods of slaughtering (ex: strangling, beaten to death, etc.), along with adherence to other restrictions. Meat obtained through prohibited methods of slaughtering is considered [[haram]].

In [[Christianity]] as practised by members of [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Greek Catholic Church]], and others, it is prohibited to eat meat in times of [[fasting]]. Rules of fasting also vary. There are also [[Christian vegetarianism|Christian monastic orders that practice vegetarianism]]. 

[[Shinto]] has a concept of [[kegare]], which means a state of pollution and defilement, and traditionally eating animals is thought to be one of them.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= 長谷部 |first1= 恵理 |date= 2006|title= 江戸期における「肉」と「肉食」に関する一考察 |url= http://id.nii.ac.jp/1067/00006795/ |journal= 危機と文化: 札幌大学文化学部文化学会紀要 |volume= 8|issue= |pages= |doi= |access-date=2021-03-27}}</ref> Eating animals having more legs is thought to be worse {{nowrap|(''i.e.'',{{tsp}}eating}} mammals is worse than eating chickens or fish). This concept leads to discrimination against slaughtermen and people who work with leather, who are called [[burakumin]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34615972 |title= Japan's hidden caste of untouchables|access-date=August 6, 2020 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=歴史のなかの米と肉 食物と天皇・差別|year=1993|publisher=平凡社|author=Harada Nobuo|place=Tokyo|isbn=4-582-84147-3}}</ref> [[Shinran]], the founder of the Buddhist sect [[Jōdo Shinshū]], taught that lower class who had to kill beings could enter [[Nirvana (Buddhism)|nirvana]] even though killing animals was thought to be immoral.

==Personhood==
It has been argued by a number of modern philosophers that a [[moral community]] requires all participants to be able to make moral decisions, but animals are incapable of making moral choices (e.g., a tiger would not refrain from eating a human because it was morally wrong; it would decide whether to attack based on its survival needs, as dictated by hunger). Thus, some opponents of ethical vegetarianism argue that the analogy between killing animals and killing people is misleading.<ref name="Hsiao" /> For example, Hsiao (2015) compares the moral severity of harming animals to that of picking a flower or introducing [[malware]] into a computer.<ref name=Hsiao>{{cite journal|last1=Hsiao|first1=Timothy|title=In Defense of Eating Meat|journal=Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics|date=2015|volume=28|issue=2|pages=277–291|doi=10.1007/s10806-015-9534-2|bibcode=2015JAEE...28..277H |s2cid=143234462|url=https://www.academia.edu/6986943}}</ref> Others have argued that humans are capable of culture, innovation, and the [[wikt:sublimation|sublimation]] of instinct in order to act in an ethical manner while animals are not, and so are unequal to humans on a moral level. This does not excuse cruelty, but it implies animals are not morally equivalent to humans and do not possess the rights a human has.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/anim-eth/#SH2b |title=Animals and Ethics |publisher=University of Tennessee |date=2 August 2013 |encyclopedia=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=2014-05-19}}</ref> The precise definition of a moral community is not simple, but Hsiao defines membership by the ability to know one's own good and that of other members, and to be able to grasp this in the abstract. He claims that non-human animals do not meet this standard.<ref name="Hsiao" />

[[Benjamin Franklin]] describes his conversion to vegetarianism in chapter one of his autobiography but he describes why he periodically ceased vegetarianism in his later life. He wrote:
{{blockquote|...in my first voyage from Boston...our people set about catching cod, and hauled up a great many. Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of not eating animal food... But I had formerly been a great lover of fish, and, when this came hot out of the frying-pan, it smelt admirably well. I balanc'd some time between principle and inclination, till I recollected that, when the fish were opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs; then thought I, "If you eat one another, I don't see why we mayn't eat you." So I din'd upon cod very heartily, and continued to eat with other people, returning only now and then occasionally to a vegetable diet. So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/chapt4/ |title=The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Chapter 4 |publisher=Earlyamerica.com |date=27 February 2007 |access-date=2011-03-27}}</ref>}}

== Zoonotic diseases and antibiotic resistance ==
{{See also|Zoonosis|Antibiotic use in livestock}}
Opponents of eating meat argue that meat production foments [[zoonotic diseases]], leading to increased pandemics, a claim backed up by a 2020 United Nations report.<ref>{{cite news |last=Carrington |first=Damian |date=2020-07-06 |title=Coronavirus: world treating symptoms, not cause of pandemics, says UN |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/06/coronavirus-world-treating-symptoms-not-cause-pandemics-un-report |access-date=2024-10-12 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> A 2017 paper stated that "An estimated 60% of known infectious diseases and up to 75% of new or emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin" and that "It is estimated that [[zoonoses]] are responsible for 2.5 billion cases of human illness and 2.7 million human deaths worldwide each year".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Salyer|first1=Stephanie J.|last2=Silver|first2=Rachel|last3=Simone|first3=Kerri|last4=Barton Behravesh|first4=Casey|date=2017-12-23|title=Prioritizing Zoonoses for Global Health Capacity Building—Themes from One Health Zoonotic Disease Workshops in 7 Countries, 2014–2016|journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases|volume=23|issue=Suppl 1|pages=S55–S64|doi=10.3201/eid2313.170418|issn=1080-6040|pmc=5711306|pmid=29155664}}</ref> Meat production often involves the usage of antibiotics on livestock, fueling [[antibiotic resistance]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Enjoli|first=Audrey|date=2020-03-19|title=What Is Meat's Role In Antibiotic Resistance?|url=https://www.livekindly.co/what-is-meats-role-in-antibiotic-resistance/|access-date=2022-02-12|website=LIVEKINDLY|language=en-US}}</ref> Antibiotic resistance has been argued to be as big of a threat as climate change.<ref name=":4" /> Critics of this line of reasoning state that while widespread adoption of vegan diets would reduce the fomenting of zoonotic diseases, antibiotic resistance, and pandemics, vegan food production still often involves antibiotics<ref name=":3" /> and does not eliminate these problems altogether.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Rogers|first=Kaleigh|date=15 September 2016|title=Vegans, You're Contributing to Antibiotic Resistance, Too|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/vegans-youre-contributing-to-antibiotic-resistance-too/|access-date=2022-02-12|website=Vice}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Washington|first1=Michael|last2=Majchrowicz|date=29 March 2021|title=PolitiFact - Moby's claim there would be 'no pandemics' if world were vegans ignores important context|url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/mar/29/facebook-posts/mobys-claim-there-would-be-no-pandemics-if-world-w/|access-date=2022-02-12|website=PolitiFact}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=MacBride|first=Katie|date=24 March 2021|title=Does eating meat cause pandemics?|url=https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/can-going-vegan-prevent-pandemics|access-date=2022-02-12|website=Inverse}}</ref>

==Animals killed in crop harvesting==
Steven Davis, a professor of [[animal science]] at [[Oregon State University]], argues that the least harm principle does not require giving up all meat. Davis states that a diet containing beef from grass-fed ruminants such as cattle would kill fewer animals than a vegetarian diet, particularly when one takes into account animals killed by agriculture.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002888,00.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070319210102/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002888,00.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 19 March 2007 |title= Should we all be vegetarians? |date= 2 July 2002|access-date=14 June 2010 | magazine=Time}}</ref> This conclusion has been criticized by [[Jason Gaverick Matheny]] (founder of [[in vitro meat|''in vitro'' meat]] organization [[New Harvest]]) because it calculates the number of animals killed per acre (instead of per consumer). Matheny says that, when the numbers are adjusted, Davis' argument shows [[veganism]] as perpetrating the least harm.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1023/A:1026354906892|journal=Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics|last=Matheny|first=G|volume=16|issue=5|pages=505–511|title=Least Harm: A Defense of Vegetarianism from Steven Davis's Omnivorous Proposal|year=2003|bibcode=2003JAEE...16..505M |s2cid=52219428}}</ref> Davis' argument has also been criticized by Andy Lamey for being based on only two studies that may not represent commercial agricultural practices. When differentiating between animals killed by farm machinery and those killed by other animals, he says that the studies again show veganism to do the "least harm".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lamey |first=Andy |year=2007 |title=Food Fight! Davis versus Regan on the Ethics of Eating Beef |journal=Journal of Social Philosophy |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=331–348 |ssrn= 1253172 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9833.2007.00382.x|url=https://philarchive.org/rec/LAMFFD }}</ref> Christopher Bobier maintains that arguments against the consumption of factory-farmed meat can also apply to vegetables produced under factory conditions due to animals killed in the production process (arguing that alternative sources of vegetables mean factory-produced vegetables are not necessary) and thus does not represent a ''[[prima facie]]'' argument for vegetarianism.<ref>Bobier, Christopher. "Should Moral Vegetarians Avoid Eating Vegetables?." Food Ethics 5, no. 1-2 (2020): 1.</ref>

==Non-meat products==
[[File:Indiapoultry.JPG|thumb|Egg-laying chickens in [[battery cage]]s]]
One of the main differences between a vegan and a [[Ovo-lacto vegetarianism|typical vegetarian diet]] is the avoidance of eggs, honey and dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter, and yogurt. [[Veganism#Ethical veganism|Ethical vegans]] do not consume dairy or eggs because of the exploitation and slaughter of animals in the dairy and egg industries<ref name=marcus>{{cite book|title=Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating|author=Erik Marcus|year=2000|publisher=McBooks Press, Incorporated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hHjqs43t8oC|isbn=9781590133446}}</ref> and because of the environmental effect of dairy production.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dummies.com/food-drink/special-diets/dairy-free/ethical-reasons-to-give-up-dairy-products/|title=Ethical Reasons to Give Up Dairy Products|website=dummies|language=en|access-date=2019-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Scarborough|first1=Peter|last2=Appleby|first2=Paul N.|last3=Mizdrak|first3=Anja|last4=Briggs|first4=Adam D. M.|last5=Travis|first5=Ruth C.|last6=Bradbury|first6=Kathryn E.|last7=Key|first7=Timothy J.|date=2014|title=Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK|journal=Climatic Change|volume=125|issue=2|pages=179–192|doi=10.1007/s10584-014-1169-1|issn=0165-0009|pmc=4372775|pmid=25834298|bibcode=2014ClCh..125..179S}}</ref>

To produce milk from [[dairy cattle]], most calves are separated from their mothers soon after birth and fed milk replacement in order to retain the cows' milk for human consumption.<ref name=milk>{{cite web|title=Dairy Cows & Welfare|author=Vegetarian Society|url=http://www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=556|author-link=Vegetarian Society|access-date=18 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506181359/http://www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=556|archive-date=6 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Animal welfare advocates point out that this breaks the natural bond between the mother and her calf.<ref name=milk /> Unwanted male calves are either slaughtered at birth or sent for veal production.<ref name=milk /> To prolong [[lactation]], dairy cows are almost permanently kept pregnant through [[artificial insemination]].<ref name=milk /> Although cows' natural life expectancy is about twenty years,<ref name=marcus /> after about five years the cows' milk production has dropped; they are then considered "spent" and are sent to slaughter for meat and [[leather]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Vache à lait: dix mythes de l'industrie laitière|date=2013|publisher=Editions Stanké, Québec|url=http://livres.edesaulniers.com/?product=vache-a-lait-dix-mythes-de-lindustrie-laitiere|author=Desaulniers, Élise|author-link=Élise Desaulniers|access-date=19 May 2014|language=fr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061132/http://livres.edesaulniers.com/?product=vache-a-lait-dix-mythes-de-lindustrie-laitiere|archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref><ref>Wolfson, D. J. (1996). [https://nationalaglawcenter.org/publication/download/wolfson-beyond-the-law-agribusiness-and-the-systemic-abuse-of-animals-raised-for-food-or-food-production-2-animal-l-123-154-1996 Beyond the law: Agribusiness and the systemic abuse of animals raised for food or food production ''Animal L''., 2, 123.]</ref>

[[Battery cage]]s are the predominant form of housing for egg laying hens worldwide; these cages reduce aggression and [[cannibalism in poultry|cannibalism among hens]], but are barren, restrict movement, and increase rates of [[osteoporosis]].<ref name="Horne Achterbosch 2008">{{cite journal | last1=Horne | first1=P.L.M. Van | last2=Achterbosch | first2=T.J. | title=Animal welfare in poultry production systems: impact of EU standards on world trade | journal=World's Poultry Science Journal | volume=64 | issue=1 | year=2008 | pages=40–52 | url=http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/fulltext/53505 | doi=10.1017/s0043933907001705 | s2cid=41783559 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Leenstra 2016">{{cite journal | last1=Leenstra | first1=F. | last2=Napel | first2=J. Ten | last3=Visscher | first3=J. | last4=Sambeek | first4=F. Van | title=Layer breeding programmes in changing production environments: a historic perspective | journal=World's Poultry Science Journal | volume=72 | issue=1 | year=2016 | pages=21–36 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291555344 | doi=10.1017/s0043933915002743| s2cid=88880569 }}</ref><ref name="Meseret 2016">{{cite journal | last=Meseret | first=S.| title=A review of poultry welfare in conventional production system | journal=Livestock Research for Rural Development | volume=28 | issue=12 | year=2016 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311321712}}</ref> In these systems and in [[free-range eggs|free-range egg]] production, unwanted male [[Chick culling|chicks are culled]] and killed at birth during the process of securing a further generation of egg-laying hens.<ref name=egg>{{cite web|title=Egg Production & Welfare|author=Vegetarian Society|url=http://www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=587#|access-date=18 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316205339/https://www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=587|archive-date=16 March 2018|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> It is estimated that an average consumer of eggs who eats 200 eggs per year for 70 years of his or her life is responsible for the deaths of 140 birds, and that an average consumer of milk who drinks {{Convert|190|kg|lb|abbr=on}} per year for 70 years is responsible for the deaths of 2.5 cows.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Saja|first=Krzysztof|title=The moral footprint of animal products|journal=Agriculture and Human Values|date=11 October 2012|volume=30|issue=2|pages=193–202|doi=10.1007/s10460-012-9402-x|issn=0889-048X|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Ahimsa]]
* [[Animal–industrial complex]]
* [[Cultured meat]]
* ''[[Devour the Earth]]''
* [[Economic vegetarianism]]
* [[Ethical omnivorism]]
* [[Ethics of uncertain sentience]]
* [[Hard problem of consciousness]]
* [[Moral agency]]
* [[Non-aggression principle]]
* [[Psychology of eating meat]]
* [[Problem of other minds]]
* [[Replaceability argument]]
* [[Sustainable diet]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
* [https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/zz00022683 A Dissertation on the Voluntary Eating of Blood: An 18th-century justification of the eating of meat. Rare WZ 260 D626 1745]. Digitized copy hosted by the UCLA Digital Library.
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304134050/http://www.memoware.com/?screen=doc_detail&doc_id=11914&p=title%5E!veg~!description%5E!veg~!author%5E!veg~! The moral basis of vegetarianism]'' (1959) e-book by [[Mahatma Gandhi]]
* [https://ivu.org/history/williams/ The Ethics of Diet: A Catena of Authorities Deprecatory of the Practice of Flesh-Eating] by [[Howard Williams (humanitarian)|Howard Williams]] M.A. (1837–1931)

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