If you care about animals and feel compelled to defend them, chances are you’ve come across knee-jerk accusations claiming you are “pushing your agenda,” forcing your ideas down their throat,” READ ON
Common Justifications for Eating Animals
Shooting the Messenger: Animal Advocates under Attack
Are Farmed Animals ‘Better Off’ Than They Would Be in Nature?
“Farm animals have a much better life than they would in nature” is a claim we commonly encounter. Fans of this line of thinking often present an either/or situation: either READ ON
Six Challenges to “Humane” Animal Product Claims
The movement to treat farm animals better is based on the idea that it is wrong to subject them to unnecessary harm; yet using and killing animals for their flesh READ ON
Comparing Animal Deaths in Production of Plant and Animal Foods
In the last several years, a number of arguments have gained traction by claiming that if vegans factor in the amount of animals killed in the harvesting of plant crops, READ ON
Breaking the Food Chain Myth
Claiming to be at the top of the food chain is a popular justification for eating animal products and an affirmation of our ability to violently dominate everyone. Yet justifications READ ON
You Can’t Be 100% Vegan
When human slavery was the norm, one could have made a similar argument. Unless we were living outside of society, it would have been difficult to be 100% slave-free. Sure, READ ON
Milk of the Poisonous Tree: Reconnecting with Our Food Choices
There are many familiar claims through which we seek to deny personal responsibility for our food choices despite the fact that eating animal products means we pay someone else to READ ON
Examining the Claim, Our Brains Evolved from Eating Animals
It could be argued that our brains have also evolved to become addicted to smoking, gambling, video games, alcohol, drugs, sex, violence, and harmful fast food. But we would think READ ON
Hunting for Wildlife Population Control and Ethical Eating?
Hunters sometimes argue that if they were to stop hunting, the deer population would explode. This is a false argument, because if hunting were to stop, we would also stop READ ON
Responding to the Claim That Animals Can’t Reason, Don’t Deserve Same Consideration
Regarding the question of how we ought to treat nonhuman animals, philosopher Jeremy Bentham famously wrote, The question is not, “Can they reason?” nor “Can they talk?” but, “Can they READ ON
Animals Eat Other Animals, So Why Shouldn’t We?
Many people insist that eating animals is “natural” — and therefore morally neutral — because other animals eat animals. But it’s important to realize that, with a few exceptions, when READ ON
A Response to the Claim That Eating Animals is Natural
The three examples, of naturally occurring rape, infanticide, and xenophobia, should help dispel the notion that acting in ways that come “naturally” automatically fulfills our moral obligations. In human societies, READ ON
On Caring Too Much About Animals and Not Enough About Humans
The problem is not that society cares too much about other animals at the expense of humans. The problem is that our exploitation of other animals is retaliating against us, READ ON
How to Respond to ‘Veganism is Extreme’
How many times have you heard the dismissive phrase veganism is extreme? What is extreme is not veganism but its polar opposite, carnism, which remains largely invisible and unexamined. What READ ON
