On Morality: What Does “Veganism Is The Non-Negotiable Moral Baseline” Mean?

legacyofpythagoras's avatarThe Legacy Of Pythagoras

All moral codes held by individuals have a minimum standard that the individual must adhere to in order to claim that the specified code is morally coherent or consistent. This is what is known as a “baseline” in regards to a moral code.

Almost all humans claim that intentionally harming another sentient being unnecessarily is immoral. In other words, the basis of all moral codes is that if we don’t need to cause others to suffer, then it would be wrong to do so. This is what is known as “The Golden Rule” which is presented as “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

Anyone who does not follow this code is either following an inconsistent moral code (this is easily proven by logic) or no moral code at all (the second would be a case of “Might Makes Right” which is what led to things like “The…

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2 thoughts on “On Morality: What Does “Veganism Is The Non-Negotiable Moral Baseline” Mean?

  1. It’s sad that some pick and choose which passages of the Bible they choose to believe – “God gave us the planet and everything on it to do with as we will” (and which is rarely for the good), while completely ignoring the Golden Rule, among others. Or the one I have to ironically laugh at “Teddy Roosevelt gave us Yellowstone Park, so we can trash it as we will”.

  2. Great article on the veganism and the need to move beyond ethical diet alone to abolish speciesism in both thinking and action.

    But pointing out the illogic of the current morality and educating people to the baseline morality of veganism makes it sound too easy.

    Adhering to a moral code requires motivation. And therein lies the big problem.
    Ethical vegan have moved beyond speciesism. Nonvegans may admit the logic of a moral code that includes animals as sentient beings. They can be educated about the meaning and evils of speciesism. But knowing something is one thing. True morality also requires will and motivation.

    So to move beyond speciesism and abolish animal cruelty, people must be “willing” to move beyond steaks and hamburgers and milk shakes. They must be “willing” to give up the medical advances that are gained through animal suffering.

    They have to be “willing” to give up the pleasures and profits based on animal exploitation, including rodeos and bullfighting.

    They have to be “willing” to abandon religious indoctrination and give up on biblical justification for animal abuse. They have to be “willing” to give up centuries-old rituals that harm animals.

    In other words, moving beyond speciesism will require self-sacrifice. It will require retooling Big Ag for plant-eating diets, which means dismantling slaughterhouses and ending all the jobs–trucking, killing, and processing—-Big Ag provides. Research will have to move to the newly discovered cell technology, organs on a chips, and high-tech models for medical training. The end of speciesism will also mean the end of the companies that provide the animals and lab equipment for the laboratories, a huge money-making industry.

    Yes, other jobs will be created. But the upheaval in the economic and social systems and within whole segments of the population as major industries are dismantled should not be underrated.

    Coming to logical and moral conclusions on paper is easier than creating the conditions that morality demands.

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