Veganism is often rationalised under the form of a syllogism : it is immortal to kill and exploit humans, and non-human animals are equal to humans, therefore, it is immoral to kill and exploit non-human animals.
I would like to argue that point because I'm having a problem with it.
I don't think "equal" is the adequate term here, it's very broad and vague. Some people are tall, some are short. Some are strong, some are weak. Not every human is equal, so of course not every animal is equal.
It may be right to say that they are, but it's necessary to precise in what way. Maybe "equal in their ability to feel" would be appropriate.
Secondly, the syllogism you present assumes that the moral consideration extended to animals should directly correlate with the treatment of
humans. However, many vegans, including myself, base our views not on comparison with human treatment but on the intrinsic value of animal
lives. We believe that exploiting animals is wrong primarily because they are sentient beings, capable of experiencing pain, sadness, fear,
and even depression. Your syllogism is focused on the physical form of the individuals, but that's not what we think about.
An important point that we vegans advocate for is not justifying exploitation based on physical attributes. We believe it's not acceptable to exploit someone because their skin is dark, or because they have female genitalia, or because they have hooves. The value of an
individual extends beyond mere physical characteristics. Our moral perspective posits that inflicting intentional harm on sentient beings purely for our pleasure is ethically wrong. If a chair were sentient, hypothetically, it would deserve similar considerations.
So, if you want to use a syllogism, the correct one would be as follow: It is immoral to cause unnecessary suffering to sentient beings; humans
and non-human animals are sentient beings; therefore, it is immoral to
cause harm to and exploit both human and non-human animals.
The inter-species violence of humans against cattle and prey is part of nature, because we simply are a productive omnivorous specie just like
any other.
I understand your point, but I don't think an appeal to nature is a very productive type of argument.
Our whole existence revolves around surpassing nature, that's why we plant crops, harvest them with motorized tools, live in brick houses, etc...
There is a reason the definition of natural is "as found in nature and not involving anything made or done by people".
Moreover, many societal rules explicitly contradict what might be considered "natural" behavior. For instance, despite murder and rape occurring in the animal kingdom, human societies have made such actions illegal. Hence, relying on what's "natural" as a guidepost for morality doesn't seem consistent with the progression of our civilizations.
I think that as leftists, we should strive to abolish any kind of ideology that preaches the unjust discrimination and exploitation of others based on their physical attributes, whether it be speciesism, carnism, racism, sexism, ableism, and so on...
