In Different Treatment we saw that Sterba justifies killing other species to satisfy our basic need for food, but does he provide any guidance on which living beings we ought to choose? Most people would say that there’s a big difference between those who have consciousness and feel pleasure and pain, and those who do not. Should this be considered when we choose what to eat? Some vegetarians certainly think so.
The ability to feel pain
Sterba’s response is that deciding which creature to kill must be implemented so that it will cause the least amount of harm. This suggests that we should meet our basic need for food by aggressing against those who don’t feel pleasure and pain rather than those who do, in order to avoid pain and suffering if possible.
Is Sterba here implying that we shouldn’t eat meat at all when we manage to get enough nutrients by living on a purely vegetarian diet? (Re: getting enough nutrients on vegetarian diet. I know that some people would disagree on this, but I have yet to find a scientific study that says otherwise).
Good for a species
Sterba is not very clear about what he means by this remark, and his arguments seems to lead us in another direction when he states; that as respective species it would be good for farm animals generally to be maintained under healthy conditions, and then killed in a relatively painless manner before eaten.
Utilize
However, it is not an argument regarding individual farm animals, nor does the principle of (aggression for) preservation allow humans to aggress against the basic needs of animals and plants, even as a way to meet their own basic needs, when those needs could effectively be met by utilizing available human surplus resource (Sterba 1998).
So what should we do?
Sterba doesn’t state clearly whether or not we can justify eating animals . As I interpret him, we are justified in eating meat because it is a case of our basic need against theirs. However, the way we procure our meat is very important, and there is no justification for bringing up farm animals in horrid conditions when we so easily can attain food in other ways. As for utilizing human surplus resources, this should also inspire greater awareness of all the food that’s thrown away in Western countries because of overproduction.
References
- Sterba, James P. 1998 ”A Biocentrist Strikes Back” Environmental Ethics 20 (4):361-376 (1998) Philosophy Documentation Center
Pictures
- Ad Meskens, (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Cows: aresauburn (CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Industrial Farming: ITamar K.
Environmental ethics 