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Leiter Poll: Veganism (Joe)

Brian Leiter has a poll on his law blog asking about veganism as a moral choice.  I haven't thought deeply about this — I'm not giving up meat, although I admire those who do — but isn't the poll missing a choice?  Given that vegetarianism is more prevalent than veganism, it's plausible that a fair number of people don't consider veganism to be morally superior to vegetarianism.1  These people wouldn't think veganism is the most morally defensible diet.  How are they supposed to vote?

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1.  It's also possible that they're like me but a little more committed, so they're willing to cut out shrimp, chicken, lamb, etc., but they're not willing to go so far as to cut cheese or eggs or yogurt out of their diets.

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4 responses to “Leiter Poll: Veganism (Joe)”

  1. Brian

    I’d have to hear the moral argument for vegetarianism that doesn’t lead to veganism. My impression is that most vegetarians view their lifestyle as a second-best. Of course, both groups are deluded, but that’s a different matter.

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  2. Ruchira

    Glad to see you in our comments section, Professor Leiter! So far we have only encountered you as our invisible linker.
    My comfort with meat eating comes with some tortuous logic to satisfy my own conscience. I am not sure if I am making the right moral decision or fitting my arguments to support my choice of diet which after all, arises mostly from habit and acquired taste.
    I had once asked some questions about meat eating here.

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  3. Joe

    Oh. I was sort of thinking “killing animals vs. no harm,” but according to a quick Google search, the position is that dairy cows and egg chickens are still harmed or caused to suffer. The environmental impact stuff also remains, if people want to include that in their calculations. Fair enough: if you accept the arguments, veganism is better than vegetarianism.

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  4. D

    “it’s plausible that a fair number of people don’t consider veganism to be morally superior to vegetarianism.”
    Vegetarian here (well, when I care enough, anyway). To answer Prof. Leiter, I do have some moral qualms about causing suffering unnecessarily (), but I think what drives my dietary actions principally is the desire not to end sentient life needlessly, which does separate eating meat from consuming eggs, milk or honey. Well, perhaps eggs are a “hard” case, but I’m pro-choice anyway, so it’d be kind of hard for me to care unduly about potential chicken life.
    (    ) As for this suffering itself, milk sounds like the rough analogue of wearing wool, using animal power, etc. The usual qualms about factory farming then are sufficient for my purposes.

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