DEUTSCHJonathan Balcombe
Treat sentient animals how you would treat humans
I briefly reflect on the questions posed, using common sense informed by my readings of philosophers on questions of animal ethics.
To the extent that an animal is comparably sentient to a human, my standards for how we may treat animals are inherently based on how we may treat our fellow humans.
What about plants? My quick answer on the matter of plants is that just as the most animal-friendly way to live is vegan, so too is vegan the most plant-friendly way to live. This is because more plants die to feed the herbivores (cows, pigs, chickens, etc.) we eat as meat than if we ate plants directly. So if plants are/were sentient, we should all be vegans. More…
