Personally, a lot of the motivation to be moral is the recognition of how society functions best when I'm looking out for both my best interests and the best interests of others — Judaka
I don't really want to see my neighbour setting his cat on fire but I'm happy for him to eat as much steak as he pleases. — Judaka
What about the interests of the animals? As well as applying logic to the moral standards we set for ourselves? Could you really say society is functioning better if it's not functioning logically? Is that not a faulty assumption? — Gitonga
Eh how is me breaking a ducks leg worse than me eating a cow? — Gitonga
It's not a "double standard", but a broader hierarchical standard, in which we assign values to the different levels based on some communally-acceptable moral standard. The most comprehensive rule in this case is "thou shalt not kill". But, even the Holy Bible goes on to make lots of exceptions. So, apart from divine revelation, how do we evaluate the various subjects & objects of our moral obligations?Why do people have double standards when it comes to animals? — Gitonga
I agree that if it’s ok to eat some animals, it’s ok to eat all of them, but if one insists on making a distinction between different animals’ mental capacity it should be more acceptable to eat dogs than pigs since pigs are considered to be more intelligent than dogs.another bias alot of humans have especially westerners is that it's "wrong" to eat certain types of animals — Gitonga
Killing a human being means killing a unique life, a unique consciousness and unique hopes and dreams. An animal seems quite similar to other animals of its species and although you think your dog has a unique personality, you must admit it is not that different from other dogs. Animals hardly have any complex consciousness of their own existence, and as to hopes and dreams the cow is probably content to eat juicy grass in the same green field tomorrow, and your dog probably has no other ambitions than falling asleep on your couch.
I could be wrong about all this, — Congau
How interesting. That means you think differently. You must think that animals have a rich mental life. Maybe cows form secret societies, have a well-developed language and discuss philosophy while just pretending to be solely occupied with their green pastures. Maybe. I can’t argue against that since I have no evidence, but somehow I don’t think so. You don’t have any evidence of their inner life either, but I would be really interested to know what you think about it. What do you think cows think about?the cow is probably content to eat juicy grass in the same green field tomorrow, and your dog probably has no other ambitions than falling asleep on your couch.
I could be wrong about all this,
— Congau
Yes you are, it is all a made-up story in your head. — A Seagull
but I would be really interested to know what you think about it — Congau
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