this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2024
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Why is me killing a chicken to feed to my cat morally acceptable, but me killing a chicken to feed to myself is not? In both cases the one with the moral code is doing the killing.
Do you believe that if there were a race of intelligent aliens who were obligate carnivores, they should be allowed to slaughter humans for food? It sounds like you think the answer is yes. I would agree, provided the humans were treated humanely.
If you've taken in a cat you have committed yourself to its care. It's not a matter of the moral agent being a killer as the combination of being a moral agent and not an obligate carnivore. You can choose not to consume animals because you don't need to. If you choose for your cat to not consume animals, you are killing the cat. But this is not a huge factor in the real world when it comes to the meat industry. Cat food is not nearly its main driver.
As for your alien hypothetical: Whether they should be "allowed" is kind of an unclear question. Who is allowing or disallowing this action? I think humans would be justified in fighting back to prevent our own demise. I think it would be ethical on the part of the aliens to strive towards a solution for their diet that doesn't involve killing or harming sentient beings
So it's just a matter of degree? Meat could be a delicacy for humans as long as we weren't overconsuming?
If they're obligate carnivores, what could they eat instead, if killing any living creature for food is morally equivalent?