Why I'm Vegan, What I know, What I Don't Know, and Why All of That Matters

 I used to be one for flashy attention-grabbing sentences and so on but I'm really not feeling that kind of thing these days so I'm just gonna jump right into it. 

Why I Went Vegan

    I think the fact of my relationship to philosophy was crucial in my becoming vegan. I think a class introducing me to rigorous studies of ethical thought is a big part of what prepared me for when I first learned about animal ethics. Deontology and utilitarianism were among the primary three categories we were taught (along with virtue ethics). Obviously, all three seemed to have things going for them and flaws. But the point is that I was introduced to them. Whether they encompassed all of ethical thought didn't matter; they do seem together to comprise a large portion of how we think ethically. I've since learned care ethics is a growing view in normative ethics, but more on that later. The other sense in which the fact of my relationship to philosophy was crucial was the simple fact that philosophy taught me that I could easily be wrong about things. Most things, in fact. I was not introduced to the concept of questioning how we should treat animals for the longest time, but when I came face to face with it, I realized immediately that it was a question I had to answer. I had a responsibility to determine whether I thought factory farms were a problem.  And consequently, whether I should support them. Why I initially went vegan was simply due to a combination of watching YouTuber CosmicSkeptic's speech on animal ethics, recalling a documentary on factory farms I watched in 9th grade (Food Inc.), and pulling up some more recent footage of what happens in factory farms. I realized that if I didn't have to support these practices, that I didn't want to. That was it. None of my reasons entailed environmental ones, or considerations of animal harm in plant agriculture, or even robust philosophical arguments. It seemed reasonable to believe we were bringing animals into the world to cause them a life's worth of harm and suffering, all for my taste buds. I wasn't interested. It seemed like on at least two of the views I was aware of (utilitarianism and virtue ethics), there was simply no room for intentionally forcing those conditions onto living creatures all in the name of taste pleasure. 

Why I am Vegan Now/What I know 

    I mean, a lot of its still the same. I think one of the most crucial things I have become aware of is that a plant-based diet is by no means cruelty free. No diet is. Whether that's killing animal through agricultural efforts or supporting food who's production involved unethical labor practices (both happen on both plant and meat based diets), we're going to be supporting cruelty when we eat food. So the idea, then, is to limit that. A large portion of our crop production goes to feeding animals. I can't pull the exact numbers out of my head and I'll save that for a future post, but you can do some easy math. More mouths to feed means not only the horrors of animal agriculture but it also equals more plant crops which means more animal suffering from plant agriculture. These are the kind of nuances I'm only now starting to appreciate. I don't really know the lay of the land in terms of sustainability and "planet" health. Again, future blog posts. In terms of what I do know, I am now equipped with some arguments that animals *do* suffer. I think its important to make these (as Tom Regan shows). In order to come to ethical veganism as a probably correct position, you have to (at least) show that animals probably suffer. I can't be any more certain of what its like to be a pig as I can be of what its like to be another human, so certainty isn't an appropriate standard. Again, arguments about the nature of animal minds will be another blog post. I'm just rambling on a bit to give you some ideas about what some of the things on this blog will look like.

What I Don't Know

    A lot. There's a lot I don't know. I don't know a lot of the arguments for animal minds. I don't know much about evolution at all. I don't know the exact numbers on a lot of key issues in animal and environmental ethics. I don't know exactly what its like to be a pig. Or exactly what its like to be you. Heck, I'm not even sure I know exactly what its like to be me. That's why therapy and stuff works right? Maybe? Blogpost? Haha. But yeah, there's a lot I don't know. I don't know any of the literature on whether its likely insects feel pain. I honestly don't really know too much about the bee industry. I don't know the history of animal ethics. I know Peter Singer wasn't the first one to ask about it, but there's a lot I need to learn about the history of animal ethics beyond Singer. I don't know anything about why we care about some animals more than others (although I know where to look when I get the chance). There's so much to know and so much to talk about, which is why I'm confident a blog on plant-based diets, animal ethics, environmental ethics, veganism, etc. will work. There's so much to talk about that I anticipate being able to bring unique insights to the table. That's usually how it works with any field of study anyway I guess, but you get the point.

Why All of That Matters 

    So why should you care? What a great question. When starting to think or learn about anything. I don't think any of us ask this question as much as we should. In high school I got a bit of it with my AP classes and I've gotten it some in college, but even in those places its lacking sometimes. What exactly are we learning, and why does it matter? Does it matter because its simply good to come to truth? Does it matter because there are practical implications? Is it both? I mean assuming a non-nihilistic view point, any of these three options might be right. Although the more you aware you are of all the problems in the world, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe any actions can have any practical benefit. (i.e. solutions to problems just cause new problems). That kind of ethical nihilism can be tough to deal with, and maybe I'll talk about it in a future post. But as far as I can tell, trying to make the world a better place is worth a shot. And if animals suffer, then ethical veganism is something we need to talk about if we want to talk about making the world a better place. So many of the animals we consume are brutally treated, and if we want to change that we're going to need to change the way we think about and perceive meat. That's not easy. That's why I'm writing this blog.