CCHU9005 Food and values
CCHU9005 Food and values
3. Eating Meat
Joe Lau philosophy . hku . 2013 http://food.joelau.info First lecture?
Write this down: http://food.joelau.info • Everything you need to know will be there
• Check regularly for announcements
• Assignment #1 & tutorials
Question for today and next week?
• Is it wrong to eat meat?
A plea for open-mindedness
• Strength of conviction might reflect the depth of family and cultural influence rather than plausibility Comment #1
• Absolutism vs contextualism
• Is it ALWAYS wrong to eat meat?
– What if the animal is dead? eg roadkill
– What about your own flesh?
• http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/22/dutch-cannibalidUSL6E7NL51Y20111222
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFte51aAds
Laboratory-grown meat
• Nothing wrong in principle? http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/is-lab-grown-meat-good-for-us/278778/ Our discussion
• Is it wrong to KILL animals for meat?
– Non-human animals
– Most of them produced in factory farms
Why do you eat meat?
Some typical reasons
• “Meat is tasty.”
• “I love eating meat.”
Two types of reasons
• “Why did you hit him?”
• Causally explanatory reason
– X is the cause of Y
– “I hit him because I was angry.”
(因果關係)
=/= it is right
• Moral reason
– X explains why Y is the right thing to do.
A good moral reason?
• Why is it acceptable to eat meat?
• “Because meat is tasty.”
• Let’s think some more
– What if meat is NOT tasty?
– What about dogs, dolphins, chimpanzees?
– What if YOU are tasty?
– What about Dracula / super-alien?
Prudential / self-interested reason
X has a reason to do Y because Y benefits X
• “I eat meat because meat gives me the nutrients I need.”
• “I eat meat because meat gives me energy.”
• “I eat meat because it makes me healthy.”
But are prudential reasons good moral reasons?
An actual email from a HKU student
Could you please set up another assignment for me? Please! Because
3. Eating Meat
Joe Lau philosophy . hku . 2013 http://food.joelau.info First lecture?
Write this down: http://food.joelau.info • Everything you need to know will be there
• Check regularly for announcements
• Assignment #1 & tutorials
Question for today and next week?
• Is it wrong to eat meat?
A plea for open-mindedness
• Strength of conviction might reflect the depth of family and cultural influence rather than plausibility Comment #1
• Absolutism vs contextualism
• Is it ALWAYS wrong to eat meat?
– What if the animal is dead? eg roadkill
– What about your own flesh?
• http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/22/dutch-cannibalidUSL6E7NL51Y20111222
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFte51aAds
Laboratory-grown meat
• Nothing wrong in principle? http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/is-lab-grown-meat-good-for-us/278778/ Our discussion
• Is it wrong to KILL animals for meat?
– Non-human animals
– Most of them produced in factory farms
Why do you eat meat?
Some typical reasons
• “Meat is tasty.”
• “I love eating meat.”
Two types of reasons
• “Why did you hit him?”
• Causally explanatory reason
– X is the cause of Y
– “I hit him because I was angry.”
(因果關係)
=/= it is right
• Moral reason
– X explains why Y is the right thing to do.
A good moral reason?
• Why is it acceptable to eat meat?
• “Because meat is tasty.”
• Let’s think some more
– What if meat is NOT tasty?
– What about dogs, dolphins, chimpanzees?
– What if YOU are tasty?
– What about Dracula / super-alien?
Prudential / self-interested reason
X has a reason to do Y because Y benefits X
• “I eat meat because meat gives me the nutrients I need.”
• “I eat meat because meat gives me energy.”
• “I eat meat because it makes me healthy.”
But are prudential reasons good moral reasons?
An actual email from a HKU student
Could you please set up another assignment for me? Please! Because