CTMU éthique animale
CTMU philosophie éthique note-mature
Question:
(1) To what extent do you believe that the principles underlying the philosophy of veganism — as opposed to the actions of some self-described vegans — are compatible with the principles of the CTMU?
(2) Consider the Vegan Society’s definition: “Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.” Are these sets of principles compatible?
(3) If so, necessarily so?
(4) If not, where does one draw the line, and why?A1 [Langan]: I embrace the concern for animal welfare which sometimes leads one to become a vegan. This concern is shared by any compassionate person.
However, it must also be observed that veganism is really just a drop in the bucket - terrestrial biology is strictly “dog eat dog”, and veganism can do nothing to change that. Most nondomestic animals suffer truly horrible deaths “in the wild” by starvation, disease, predation, parasitism, or what have you.
Furthermore, human society is internally predatory and parasitic - the rich and powerful prey on and parasitize the poor and the weak. In short, both the natural and social environments cause their inhabitants to suffer.
Our imperative as compassionate entities is to limit suffering without compromising the viability of ourselves and our fellow organisms. This takes both intelligence and moral responsibility.A2 & A3: Not entirely; biology always involves exploitation, but not cruelty. Some level of exploitation is always necessary - organisms use each other to get what they need - but beyond a certain point suffering is not, and “cruelty” consists of making a being suffer beyond that point. In any case, the given definition includes the qualifier “as far as is possible and practicable”, which somewhat blurs the distinction.
A4: That depends on how one interprets the qualifier in response to a full range of possible conditions, with the interpretation varying according to the conditions. As always, the ultimate invariant is teleology, AKA the CTMU Telic Principle, AKA “the Will of God”.
— Christopher Langan, CTMU FB Group (2019, January 5)