Ethical question of vegetarianism?!

The common domesticated cow was created BY MAN for consumption. Without a need for dead cow flesh, breeds of cows used solely for that would eventually die out without some sort of conservation program or enthusiasts breeding them as pets.

I would rather an animal never be born than to spend its life suffering. THIS is the ethical thing to do.

Problem with that arguement is its a hypothesis how can one legitimately say ''100% cows will die out if we release them''.....we can't & an equally improbable arguement to use back is in India cows roam free due to hindu practice of Cows being sacred.
Its also trying to justify eating meat through a silly arguement, according to the logic we should do something ie it in a different format because it will happen anyways. What is the difference between say, the killing of jewish people because they will eventually die anyways & the killing of a cow because it will die in the wild? can i justify it using the same logic?
Or another example, whats the difference between killing a person who is terminally ill (without their say involved, otherwise this turns into a euthanasia arguemetn) & killing a cow that will die in the wild otherwise?

Not much a difference really when you look at it. Its starting their arguement from a pretty big leap, instead of a basic axiom & building on it. & clearly i, no philosopher can immediately get them to revise what they said.


***PS another popular debate is that plants are living too, vegetarians don't agree to not kill organisms because that is not possible (unbalenced ecosystem) but don't agree to kill organisms capable fo feeling pain & suffering.

vegetarian

They would survive. A lot of them would die but that's just what happens in evolution. They didn't always have a miserable life. We just use them, like we use everything else to our benefit. Without regards to life. I don't find anything wrong with consuming meat or cows for that matter but I think it should be done in moderation and the U.S. as a whole is far to obsessed with meat for their own health. Red meat that is. I used to be a vegetarian and I'm going back to it. I do it for cleansing purposes every now and again. Cows are kind of dumb animals but that is not a right to beat them and pump them full of hormones and put them in horrible living conditions. They are alive after all.

@John Jooley
That's actually a very Buddhist thing. Reduce harm as much as possible but it's impossible to eradicate it.

Probably. It is a pretty useless animal and an absolute disaster to the environment especially given the number of them that are being raised for meat and milk. Humans don't need cow's milk (nor is it good for you). Cow's milk is the worst delivery method of calcium to the human body in existence but yet everyone thinks it is the best. Cow's milk is full of cholesterol, fat and mucus. Not worth it for the calcium. Then we eat their hormone injected, corn fed meat and become overweight with heart disease. Then we breed so many of them they consume half of our fresh water supply and their farts destroy the ozone so what part of this dumb animal is worth keeping it around. Leather? Yeah, that's nice.

The species would not die out. Their numbers might decrease, but if there were herds in the wild, they could easily survive off grass like deer do. The only problem with having cows in the wild like deer is that they would be more likely to get into the road and cause accidents. :(
Anyway, if I could, I would keep them as pets or whatever term you care to use, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

As for the ethical question, I would have to ask a cow. :)

I don't think cows would die out if not for eating them, they are also used for milk and some people keep them as pets.
Cows are mistreated in a lot of farms and slaughter houses (which sounds cruel enough), but not a lot of people are going to stop eating meat because of it.
As for your friend, I don't think they would agree with me but I believe in a God of some sort and I believe he put some animals on earth just to feed people.
=^.^=

so, for example, if horses weren't domesticated and used for riding/work etc, then the wild horses would die out? think about it. and seeing as meat eaters are so bothered about the food chain, and being top of it, cows are also a part of it, regardless of whether humans ate them or not. everything has a purpose in life, even flies, bacteria etc!

1. Species do not have ethical interests. Individuals do.
2. There are ALREADY wild cow populations in some parts of the world,
just as there had been for thousands of years before human agriculture.


You're only fifteen and seem to already have a good head on your shoulders. :)
Best of luck, sweetie.

that's how it would have been anyway. i would rather have the cows not exist than be in pain. besides, cows are sacred in India so i think they would continue to exist, just not in factory farms

Eating meat is ethically wrong. Period.

Cows can live naturally. But not all of the cows that live in this planet. They are raised for meat.

They wouldn't.

if the whole world did go vegan I doubt we would have no more cows. We would however loose the top producing breeds of dairy and beef because what would the point be for breeding them. Also the old heritage breeds (devon, lineback etc) that have a long history and good homestead traits would also die out, what would be the point of breeding more? My guess is we would still have miniature breeds being kept for pets (not particle to keep a 2,000 lb. dairy cow with not return) like the dexter because they eat less and easier to keep. Also some people might keep some steers for drafts animals.
If it was true that all cows lived in giant feed lots and dairy farms then yes, I don't think it would be ethically wrong to stop breeding them. This is not true however, many cows still graze in pastures on small farms and I think it would be wrong if we stopped breeding these cows.

Modern cows can be compared to dogs for this question. Both species have been heavily affected by domestication and humans breeding them for a given purpose. Just like dogs, some cows are closer to their original wild state than others. But at the same time, if you were to take a German Shepherd and throw it out into the woods, there's no guarantee it would survive. Same with cows. This does not mean that if all the cows were suddenly set free, they would all die. Some would be able to adapt and survive. However, there would most likely be a huge die-off as the animals adjust to life in the wild. But no, the species as a whole would probably survive.

Humans have a limited understanding of the concepts of life and death; it should be expected that animals have even less of an understanding.
However, if you were to begin asking people of various cultures and socioeconomic groups that, by your standards, have apparently miserable lives, whether they would rather have not been born at all, I would bet that most would prefer to have lived.
If animals could understand that concept, I would guess that they, too, would rather have lived than not.