The Moral Complexities of Eating Meat

by Ben Bramble; Bob Fischer (Editor)

A new collection offering provocative and often counterintuitive conclusions on the ethics of meat eating.

In a world of industralized farming and feed lots, is eating meat ever a morally responsible choice? Is eating organic or free range sufficient to change the moral equation? Is there a moral cost in not eating meat? As billions of animals continue to be raised and killed by human beings for human consumption, the significance and urgency in answering these questions grow.

This volume collects twelve new essays by leading moral philosophers who attempt to solve the ethical dilemma of meat eating by examining various implications and consequences of our food choices. Some argue for the moral permissibility of eating meat by suggesting views such as farm animals would not exist and flourish otherwise, and the painless death that awaits is no loss to them. Others consider more specific examples like whether buying french fries at McDonalds is just as problematic as ordering a Big Mac due to the action's indirect support of a major purveyor of meat. The Moral Complexities of Eating Meat is a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on meat consumption and actively challenges readers to reevlaute their stand on food and animal ethics.

Genres: Philosophy, Food, Nonfiction

232 pages, ebook

First published November 2, 2015

Reviews

[Daniel Hageman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is the book worth reading for anyone interested in this topic (beyond the basics of Singer and the like). Some of the chapters, particularly that of Budolfson's on causal inefficacy, Driver's on complicity without immorality, and others about how to be strategic in phasing out the atrocity that is taking place in our current world. Probably 5-star worthy compared to many other resources on this topic!

[Sam Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accidentally removed this from my bookshelf, but it is good and I want it to be there. My original review was about how the Inefficacy Objection against vegetarianism is wrong. This was the link I provided: https://philarchive.org/archive/MCMAIO

[eivind. l]

very nice read! particularly liked the essays from driver, littlejohn, bramble, levy and plakias. made me think about a lot of stuff i’d never considered before.

[Norman Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well constructed arguments for both vegetarian/veganism and eating meat. A must read for those in stuck in a moral dilemna. This book takes into consideration all that you've ever questioned about the ethics of food consumption and so much more. Very comprehensive and thought provoking.

[Mills College Library]

338.176 M8281 2016