Is it good to have a system that brings about lots of sentient creatures and then kills some of them (ignoring the fact that this system feeds us)? Opinions may, of course vary, particularly between purist consequentialists and others; In my opinion it’s bad. This is one of the reasons I oppose factory farming, even though I believe every life to be “net positive”.
See also Brian Tomasik’s “How Does Vegetarianism Impact Wild-Animal Suffering?”
Again I’ll just note that Tomasik’s view stems from strictly consequentialist ethics. I’m not sure I view suffering caused by a creature’s natural habitat in the same light that I view suffering caused by humans.
Is it good to have a system that brings about lots of sentient creatures and then kills some of them (ignoring the fact that this system feeds us)? Opinions may, of course vary, particularly between purist consequentialists and others; In my opinion it’s bad. This is one of the reasons I oppose factory farming, even though I believe every life to be “net positive”.
Again I’ll just note that Tomasik’s view stems from strictly consequentialist ethics. I’m not sure I view suffering caused by a creature’s natural habitat in the same light that I view suffering caused by humans.