Inspired by mattnewport’s comment, here are additional questions for any vegetarians: if vat-grown meat were developed, would you eat it? Would there be any ethical issues with eating it?
I would happily eat vat meat without a single pang of conscience.
Possible exception: if it was getting to the point where farm animals were becoming endangered, I would expect a movement supporting traditional farms to arise, and for this movement to place a high priority on animal welfare. If this happened, I would support this movement by buying farm-grown meat, but this would be a personal preference and I would not recognize a moral obligation to do so.
I might eat vat-grown chicken on an irregular basis, if I were sure that it had no bizarre side effects and that it really was from a vat. Other meat no longer appeals to me enough that I would choose to eat it in a non-emergency situation. I don’t think there would be ethical issues with it unless it was staggeringly inefficient to grow.
Number of a species existing isn’t an additional terminal value to me on top of aggregated experiences (except maybe for very small numbers), and it seems pretty likely that the average animal life on a factory farm isn’t worth living.
How many people would’ve guessed that there are ~twice more horses in Europe as of a few years ago than in 1900? Or that current US horse population is ~30% of its historical peak?
I think vat meat would take long enough to catch on that the decline in the meat animal population could be accounted for by slowing the breeding rate.
Regardless, the current population of livestock accounts for a tiny share of the total over time so what happens to the animals currently alive is less important than the long-term effects of a change in people’s diets.
Inspired by mattnewport’s comment, here are additional questions for any vegetarians: if vat-grown meat were developed, would you eat it? Would there be any ethical issues with eating it?
I would happily eat vat meat without a single pang of conscience.
Possible exception: if it was getting to the point where farm animals were becoming endangered, I would expect a movement supporting traditional farms to arise, and for this movement to place a high priority on animal welfare. If this happened, I would support this movement by buying farm-grown meat, but this would be a personal preference and I would not recognize a moral obligation to do so.
I would eat vat-grown meat. In addition to solving the animal suffering problem it would probably have less impact on the environment as well.
I might eat vat-grown chicken on an irregular basis, if I were sure that it had no bizarre side effects and that it really was from a vat. Other meat no longer appeals to me enough that I would choose to eat it in a non-emergency situation. I don’t think there would be ethical issues with it unless it was staggeringly inefficient to grow.
Assuming I felt like it, it would depend significantly on the efficiency (particularly energy efficiency) of the production process.
I would have no qualms about eating it if I liked it. (I’m not sure whether I would because I don’t like meat all that much.)
Here’s an ethical issue: what happens to all the cows, pigs, chickens, etc? (Consider what happened to the horses.)
Number of a species existing isn’t an additional terminal value to me on top of aggregated experiences (except maybe for very small numbers), and it seems pretty likely that the average animal life on a factory farm isn’t worth living.
Why, what happened to the horses? We still have horses.
Now think how many horses there were in 1900.
Hint: at roughly the same time, canned dog food was invented.
I found this page really interesting: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=144565
How many people would’ve guessed that there are ~twice more horses in Europe as of a few years ago than in 1900? Or that current US horse population is ~30% of its historical peak?
I think vat meat would take long enough to catch on that the decline in the meat animal population could be accounted for by slowing the breeding rate.
I agree, that is a possibility.
Regardless, the current population of livestock accounts for a tiny share of the total over time so what happens to the animals currently alive is less important than the long-term effects of a change in people’s diets.