Preview

The Utilitarian Theory: To Meat Or Not To Eat?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1374 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Utilitarian Theory: To Meat Or Not To Eat?
To Meat or Not to Eat Considering modern society nowadays, eating meat has become essential to our lives for the pleasure and for their products but at some point, all of us must ask ourselves “What if we were in the animals place and we were produced only to be consumed?”. To continue this discussion, we must take it to a philosophical level... so let’s get started, shall we? On the one hand, there would be no point in this reading without talking about the Utilitarian Theory which believes that it is ethically satisfactory to keep raising animals for food on the off chance that we enhance their living conditions, however it is not ethically worthy to kill them .On the other hand, there are the Deontological Theories …show more content…
Well I am here to tell you that they are the alpha and the omega, regarding meat eating we would not be able to conclude without taking a strong look at these two theories. And by this point you might also be choosing a side but before you do I would like you to know, simpler, the deontological theory we will be going over says it is alright to eat animals the length of we have an ethical commitment against them and the utilitarian theory supports, eating meat by trying to eliminate the animals suffering and taking a look in their interests. While there are some people who believe that raising and killing animals for food is not acceptable, we ought to consider that the Deontological Theories say that animals have no rights at all not to forget, at the moment we are at the top of the food chain and all choices are open to us unlike some other organisms. So the real question is this, why should animals have rights and why should we respect them? In my opinion, animals that do not co-exist in our society do not have moral rights therefore I agree with the Deontological theories and I believe that animals do not have rights, can be …show more content…
Horses are essential to western culture history, way back when they were the means to our transportation. Back then horses were not only used as tools, they were given the care they needed and not only that they were respected at a high level and that is still going on in the present. But that is just my opinion, right? Well as said before, the Deontological Theory believes that animals do not have a place within our ethical group, they need reason and along these lines do not have rights. A contemporary philosopher who expresses such an attitude toward the human use of non-human animals is Carl Cohen, who stands with the deontological theory, in his reading "The Case for the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research” published on October 2nd, 1986 on The New England Journal of Medicine said “Animals lack this capacity for free moral judgment. They are not beings of a kind capable of exercising or responding to moral claims”. What he tries to demonstrate with this is that even with rights most animals would not know the existence of their rights and they would just act naturally as they would be expected to do so. In other

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    We, as humans, have developed such a bizarre and uncomfortable relationship with non-human animals. In her short essay, Makenna Goodman describes how for dinner she had her guests come over and one had to kill a chicken for their meal. Goodman also discusses the efforts made by farmers to supply their families with farm-fresh food that has been prepared in an ethical way. Goodman introduces her article by sharing with us about her own life as a farmer and how it explains her opinion about killing what we eat. Indeed, for some people, the connection to the food that we eat is vital and offers explications on the backstory of what we consume.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pollan, Michael. “The Feedlot: Making Meat.” The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. (2006): 70-84. Print.…

    • 317 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hasselstrom and Regan both make valid points in their arguments by discussing the reason behind the killing of animals. In “The Cow Versus The Animal Rights Activist,” Hasselstrom tells us that the death of cattle benefits human life, and that human life is more important to protect than the life of animals. He argues, against misinformed antibeef activists, that the red meat from cows is healthy for humans. Other parts of the cow can also be used such as the fat and the hide. Although Hasselstrom provides…

    • 1234 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daniel Engster begins his argument in the “Care Ethics, Factory Farms, and Moral Vegetarianism” section of his article by claiming that we have a responsibility to care for the animals we make dependent upon us. He continues to explain the deplorable conditions of factory farms and that the animals raised for meat are not properly cared for. Engster gives responsibility to not only the workers and overseers of factory farms, but…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    The Vegetarian Myth, written by author Lierre Keith, tackles the ever-heated question: To eat animal products or not to eat animal products? I add the word “products,” after animal because the book should more properly be called the vegan myth. As a former vegan of over twenty years Keith comes from a place of experience, or as she might have it, a bitter experience. Feeling betrayed, in denial, and physically ill from her vegan years, she has made it her goal to reveal the truth and put to rest the Vegetarian notion that abstaining from animal products is the righteous path that is morally correct, will feed the hungry, and lead to greater nutrition. Chapter one, titled “Why This Book” will be the focus of this analysis because it gives an appropriate introduction to Keith’s…

    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    While I already knew that I eat a lot of food, what I did not realize was how much of the food I eat is packaged. In the tables 1 and 2, I put everything that was a local food into a bold font. It was only one item for each week, four brats the first week and three the second. They are from a local meet market, but even they are not very sustainable. Meat is very resource intensive to produce. Many more pounds of grain are fed to the animals to fatten them up than we get in return as meat. According to Lester Brown (2011), 35% of the world’s grain harvest each year goes towards making animal protein. Brown (2011, pg. 173) also states, “With cattle in feedlots, it takes roughly 7 pounds of grain to produce a 1-pound gain in live weight. For…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A problem that I have solved, on a singular level, is my impact on the earth. Caring about the earth and its occupants is something I deeply identify with. And as I have gotten older I have been trying harder to create the smallest carbon foot print possible. Towards the end of eighth grade my science teacher explained the current and future ecological status of the world, this being the first I ever received this information. Though the facts I observed left a feeling of uneasiness, I didn't compose any changes. Although, a year later the animal lover within finally came out, I went vegetarian. A narrow step on a path to a healthier planet. I remember in this time I felt terribly guilty and wrong for contributing to such terrible things: death, disease, torture, and devastation.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Omnivore Diet Benefits

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Industrial farmers appear to be more concerned with massive profit margins, than they do with producing quality food in providing meat and vegetables: “The cruelty of the factory farms—the cages are small, the slaughter is violent” (Foer 67). Spiritually, I cannot tolerate the brutal methods of animal treatment, which industrial ranchers and meat producers tend to follow in the 21st century. Therefore, it is important to follow an ethical version of the Standard American Diet, which provide the healthiest and most ethical production of food for human health. I believe that all living things should be treated with respect and reverence for what they provide, which sustains my own life through the sacrifice of their own. These are important aspects of the omnivore diet, which can be sustainable in the modern world. I follow a code of ethics in terms of how animals should be processed for consumption. The problem with eating meat is not necessarily eating the meat itself; it is respecting that another life form has given me life. This is why I support organically produced foods that will be processed through ethical farming methods within the general framework of the Standard American…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Imagine your favorite animal. Whether it be a cow, a pig, a fish, a cat, or a dog. How do you feel knowing that hundreds of these animals are killed every single day for people to consume. Do you ever wonder how the meat was produced or how the animals were killed? Or do you just worry about how good the meat tastes. It 's hard to give up eating something you 've been exposed to all of your life, but I guarantee you will live a healthier, guilt free life.…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comparative Essay

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    ‘Animal welfare is right, and its good business too’, published in the Australian on the 2nd of June 2012, by Craig Emerson is an opinion piece about the welfare and treatment of animals. Aimed at parents, older generations and families about animal cruelty. ‘Why it’s ethical to eat meat? To set a “Good” example’, published in The New York Times on the 17th of April 2012 by Cathy Erway, questions why eating meat is right and why eating meat is wrong. Appealing to interested adolescents and older generations through a casual and informal approach.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary: Sandler talked about the arguments and objections of ecological impacts, disruptive justice, the argument from the health perspective, and the argument from the sexual politics of meat. Sandler used applied ethics to analyze each argument and objectives to help better our knowledge and understanding to also help us form our own opinion about the topic of whether or not it should be okay for humans to eat meat.…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The consumption of meats dates back to our ancient predecessors dwelling amongst the land and early Native American tribes. The earliest forms of hunters and gathers believed strongly in all an animal had to offer, even after it was deceased. Once an animal was hunted they used each part of the animal so its life was not wasted unnecessarily. According to the Native Languages of the America, “Whether they were farming tribes or not, most Native American tribes had very meat-heavy diets.” (Native Languages of the Americas, 2011) This heavily laden diet led to other uses of their animal kill such as shelter and clothing.…

    • 417 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trust is one of the most essential feeling that anyone would want in themselves, and in other. Trust gives us the confident to support one’s point of view, and believes. There is no doubt that we can perfectly relate this to Michael Pollan’s essay “An Animal Place”. Pollan addresses the animal rightist claim that animals should be giving more rights, while other think that animals do disserve to have right since they are less intelligent than us humans. Pollan’s main objective is not to persuade his audience to stop eating meat, but rather to study the ethics of eating animals and to find out the way meat is processed by building a sense of trust with his audience. He effectively abutment his main opinion about the problem in the industrialized…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Animals Vs Vegetarianism

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The processed meat industry is an 800 billion dollar industry killing over 10 billion animals each in the United State alone. Factory farmed livestock account for over 99% of all the meat consumed by Americans even though they are raised in these despicable conditions. Many animals raised on factory farms live in abhorrent conditions where they are unable to turn around in their own cages, live in their own feces, and never even see the light of day.. Peter Singer dives into the idea that all animals are equal in a selection taken out of his book Animal Liberation, found in James and Stuart Rachels’ The Right Thing To Do, and advocates for the humane treatment of animals. Singer lays out the argument that it is morally wrong to make animals…

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bill McKibben’s essay “The Only Way to Have a Cow” establishes a sense of comfort as his approach to the meat eating controversy is superbly logical. The current industrial approach to livestock has birthed an issue pertaining to the sustainability and healthy feeding of our lives. Yet there is another problem in relation to our consumption, which tends to be overlooked. If the pricing of meat reflected in the damage done to our environments, feedlot beef would cost more than grass-fed beef both financially and environmentally. It is the rapid, inhumane dietary feeding of the cow which is insulting, not the consumption of it, and taking no responsibility for the run-off is an offense to the earth and it’s inhabitants. These costs alone are part of the reasoning for the current system which is inefficient and uneconomically feasible. The…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays