Empathy refers more generally to our ability to take the perspective of and feel the emotions of another living being. Compassion is when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to help. (Can be substituted for Altruism). Ethical Consistency is being logically consistent within a belief. Primarily regarding the consistency of the justification being used.
Does anyone here eat animals, while also adhering to the moral trifecta (Empathy, compassion and ethical consistency)? If so, I'd like to know how? — chatterbears
So I can be empathetic towards humans, but not animals, and so can adhere to this "moral trifecta" whilst also eating meat — Michael
So again, if we don't need to eat meat (and make animals suffer), why do we do it? — chatterbears
So if an animal feels pain and suffering, why would we kill it when we don't need to? — chatterbears
Don't worry. Irrationality and hypocrisy, strangely, are not crimes...yet! — TheMadFool
It looks like your whole argument is based on very shaky ground. How do you know animals do not feel pain and other humans do? Are not humans animals?Animals don't feel pain — Michael
If lions, tigers, and alligators do it, then why would it be wrong? Here we go into another thread asking a subjective question as if it had an objective answer.Does anyone here eat animals, while also adhering to the moral trifecta (Empathy, compassion and ethical consistency)? If so, I'd like to know how? — chatterbears
agreed, but for the sake of argument, let's talk about our factory farmed animals (cows / chickens / pigs)Certainly, other animals are not conscious to the same degree as humans. — Sapientia
And some humans are not conscious to the same degree as other humans - therefore the degree of consciousness should not be a measuring stick for deciding who lives and who dies.Certainly, other animals are not conscious to the same degree as humans. — Sapientia
If lions, tigers, and alligators do it, then why would it be wrong? — Harry Hindu
Saying animals don't feel pain is just wrong. They can reject it, but they would be in fact wrong. Animals feel pain. What are the signs of pain? Distress. Moving yourself out of the way of the thing that is causing pain. Blood. Etc... Animals and humans both share this basic trait. Saying we are incapable of empathizing with animals is just a false statement. — chatterbears
Ethics are simply rules for behaving within certain social structures and are arbitrary. — Harry Hindu
They may not feel identical pain to the pain we experience, but they still do in fact feel pain. That is just a fact.it is invalid to infer from the available evidence that animals feel pain (or at least that the pain they feel is like the pain that we feel). — Michael
It looks like your whole argument is based on very shaky ground. How do you know animals do not feel pain and other humans do? — Harry Hindu
And some humans are not conscious to the same degree as other humans. — Harry Hindu
so how do you justify the suggestion that one should be just as empathic or compassionate towards factory farmed animals, like cows, chickens, and pigs, as towards humans? — Sapientia
They may not feel identical pain to the pain we experience, but they still do in fact feel pain. That is just a fact. — chatterbears
By that logic, you can use the same reasoning between two humans. Each person has a different capacity and tolerance for pain, and therefore does not feel pain in the same way another person does. You could get hit on the hand with a stick and feel pain differently than me, but this doesn't mean I cannot empathize with you just because our pain is not identical.If they don't feel pain in the same way that we do then we can't empathise with them — Michael
Plants are living things but cannot feel pain or suffering, because they do not have a nervous system or a brain. You value life and avoid pain and suffering. Every living creature on this planet (humans included) adheres to that basic level of wanting to live and wanting to avoid pain or suffering. Therefore, we shouldn't be causing pain to others. — chatterbears
What irrationality and hypocrisy? — Michael
By that logic, you can use the same reasoning between two humans. Each person has a different capacity and tolerance for pain, and therefore does not feel pain in the same way another person does. You could get hit on the hand with a stick and feel pain differently than me, but this doesn't mean I cannot empathize with you just because our pain is not identical. — chatterbears
We can't adhere to the ''trifecta'' and continue to eat meat as empathy and compassion are based on not causing pain. Am I right? — TheMadFool
The meat-eater claims that animals don't feel pain, so there position is consistent (even if factually wrong). — Michael
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