Questions tagged [ethics]
For questions about philosophical or moral reasoning relating to veg*n practices. Try to avoid asking questions that invite primarily opinion-based answers
30
questions
3
votes
1answer
89 views
Does eating insects save lives compared to eating plants?
I've been a vegetarian for almost 9 years and became a vegan 1.5 years ago. So I really believe in not killing animals.
What "bugged" me for several years is that animals like mice and moles die ...
-2
votes
2answers
105 views
How much money do I need to donate to charity to justify not being vegan?
I care about animal welfare and climate change but do not want to go vegan.
Suppose I eat a typical American diet. How much money would I need to donate each year to the most effective charities to ...
0
votes
1answer
78 views
Eating 100 small fish or 1 big fish [closed]
What is the right answer - assume somebody asks you - to the question what is ethically better for a non-vegetarian person to eat (or what you would recommend him to eat, if you have to): 100 small ...
4
votes
1answer
118 views
Should I eat meat mistakenly served to me at a restaurant? [closed]
For simplicity's sake, suppose I am a veg*n for purely ethical reasons. I have no religious/health/disgust/other reasons to be veg*n.
If I order a veg*n option at a restaurant, and it is accidentally ...
1
vote
1answer
47 views
Does this quote by plant biologist Olivier Van Aken imply that plants can feel pain?
Olivier Van Aken, a plant biologist at the University of Western Australia, is often quoted (like here) as saying:
While plants don’t appear to complain when we pinch a flower, step on
them, or ...
1
vote
1answer
113 views
Can a vegan ethically buy animal leather knowingly?
My persnickety grandma fancies a Steelcase office chair with 2 choices of seat material: Brisa ultrafabric or Elmosoft animal leather (see red underlines beneath). Steelcase apprised her that
Elmo ...
4
votes
2answers
122 views
Are vegans allowed to kill mice or beetles in their houses? Why or why not?
I was explaining the idea of being vegan to one of my friends and at the end of discussion I said “so we don’t harm any intelligent living thing which we are aware of“ so if we step on an ant which we ...
3
votes
1answer
210 views
Is smoking consistent with vegan principles?
Can you be a vegan and smoke cigarettes?
I ask the question because I saw many people using clothes with vegan logos and making vegan campaign smoking cigarettes. I've seen sites that say cigarettes ...
6
votes
3answers
208 views
Why is keeping backyard hens inconsistent with veganism?
If somebody keeps egg-laying hens in their backyard and makes sure they are loved and well cared-for, what's wrong with taking and eating their eggs from the perspective of veganism? If a person who ...
4
votes
1answer
75 views
Does a live animal tracking system for vegetarian products exist?
I am thinking of a label system on cheese and egg found in supermarkets whereby you can use your phone camera to scan a bar code on those products. It would take you to a live supervision camera ...
2
votes
5answers
503 views
Would vegetarians eat an animal that died of natural causes?
Why would a vegetarian refuse to eat an animal that dies of a natural death (such as Kapelin, the suicide fish that throws itself upon the bays of Newfoundland two weeks of a given month of a given ...
5
votes
2answers
160 views
Could wool from sheep living in an animal sanctuary be considered vegan?
As far as I know, some sheep need to be shorn because they were bred to produce more wool.
If such a sheep is rescued from a sheep station by an animal sanctuary,
which is a non-profit organization,...
8
votes
2answers
197 views
Are there any farms that sell “cruelty-free” eggs (i.e. that don't slaughter older hens)?
Eggs maybe considered vegetarian by many since most eggs are unfertilized and do not result in the death of any animals. However, egg farms are usually not cruelty-free since when hens get too old to ...
8
votes
1answer
159 views
Traces of non-vegan ingredients
On many products I often read through and find that all the ingredients are vegan, then there is a disclaimer following which says there may be traces of certain non-vegan items (most commonly egg or ...
9
votes
3answers
355 views
Which pets could be kept by someone who chooses to be vegan for environmental reasons?
Let's assume that someone is not concerned with animal welfare or rights of their pet, and is vegan for purely environmental reasons.
The issue is that buying food for carnivorous animals is ...
17
votes
6answers
762 views
Plants show intelligent behaviour, is this sufficient for moral consideration?
Recent research has revealed that plants are able to communicate, learn, and respond to harm. It has been argued that these behaviours constitute basic intelligence. Robert A. Freitas Jr. has ...
2
votes
0answers
46 views
What books are recommended for the ethics of veg*nism? [closed]
Which books are recommended for the ethics of veganism/vegetarianism?
8
votes
3answers
221 views
How is the presence of consciousness determined in an animal?
Given that animals can't tell us about their experiences, what forms of evidence are used to suggest whether an animal is conscious?
This subject is important, since one argument for adopting ...
7
votes
2answers
240 views
What are the main arguments against non-human animals holding intrinsic value?
The belief that animals hold intrinsic value is an important basis for animal rights.
Wikipedia lists the main positions used as a basis for the intrinsic value of animals as:
behaviouristic, ...
3
votes
1answer
60 views
In what ways do some consider animal rights issues to be connected to feminist issues?
Some vegans consider animal rights issues to be an intersectional social justice issue, and connect speciesism to various other isms.
In what ways does this perspective consider animal rights issues ...
2
votes
2answers
59 views
Is there a way to take medications that come in capsules that may be gelatine?
Reading another answer here I realised that medication capsules are likely made out of gelatine.
Is there an alternative way to take the medication? Might this affect the medication?
I take very ...
4
votes
1answer
95 views
Is using bee's wax OK for vegans?
I am not vegan, but was wondering whether vegans will use bee's wax.
My guess is that, given most won't eat honey, the answer is no but the method of collecting wax can be different, for example it ...
-1
votes
1answer
93 views
Besides animal suffering and caring for the environment, what common ethical reasons are there for veganism? [closed]
Many vegans follow this lifestyle "for ethical reasons". These reasons are usually related to avoiding animal suffering and exploitation. Moreover, some vegans might see the concern for the ...
13
votes
1answer
98 views
Is there an ethical alternative to mulesing? (Removal of wool-bearing skin from the breech of a sheep)
Mulesing is the removal of strips of wool-bearing skin from around the breech (buttocks) of a sheep to prevent flystrike (myiasis). The wool around the buttocks can retain feces and urine, which ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
Is the use of pesticides considered vegan?
While sometimes considered indispensable for crops protection, pesticides are basically weapons of mass destruction aimed at insects and other animals that eat crops. Can food produced with the aid of ...
5
votes
8answers
2k views
If vegans don't drink milk, why are they okay with breastfeeding?
Why is it that some vegans don't use dairy products, but still breast-feed their babies? Isn't this same idea of a mother cow breastfeeding their babies?
Is it about animal cruelty, animal product (...
6
votes
2answers
102 views
How to avoid being part of the slaughter of cockerels on the free-range egg farms?
Most of the eggs that are consumed are infertile. However would eating eggs from certain farms would increase kills of the male chickens (cockerels)? By killing, I mean brutally slaughtered by the use ...
0
votes
2answers
190 views
Would a vegetarian or vegan eat an animal killed by accident? [closed]
For example, assuming a vegan has no particular religion preventing them from eating pigs: if a pig dies because of an external event or accident, would cooking and eating the pig be consistent with ...
-1
votes
1answer
149 views
What should someone who became a vegan do with their non-vegan possessions? [closed]
For example, someone decides to go vegan but already owns a leather jacket?
What should they do with this jacket and any other non-vegan possessions?
9
votes
1answer
552 views
Do bivalves such as oysters feel pain or fear?
In moral arguments for veganism, the pain, stress, and fear experienced by animals is often given as an argument. I have read some arguments that vegetarians should be OK with eating oysters and ...
