(EE) Ethics and Livestock

A fully realized conception of ethics has two irreducible sides: the personal and the public. We have so far discussed a few of the personal ethical implications of meat-eating, but the policy implications of the impact of animal agriculture on climate illustrates the other indispensable ethical pole. Some people are ethical vegetarians on grounds of cruelty, the intrinsic value of life, etc., whereas others choose a meatless (or reduced meat, or entirely plant-based) diet because they want to alter the economics of food production in order to lower greenhouse gas emissions. For our purposes it is important to notice that both of these choices are based solidly on ethical considerations.