The Immorality of Eating Meat

If you eat meat purchased from a grocery store, you are supporting an institution—factory farming—that inflicts terrible deprivation and suffering (not to mention death) on animals. The suffering is your doing, even though you do not personally inflict it and even though you never experience it. You are paying people to inflict the suffering, which, in all likelihood, you could not and would not do yourself. I assume that you believe suffering to be bad (and therefore in need of justification), and I assume that your only reason for eating meat is that you like the taste. So why do you eat meat? It’s immoral (wrong) by your own standards.

One of my teachers at The University of Arizona, Ronald D. Milo, who is now retired, published a wonderful book twenty years ago: Immorality (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984). His aim in the book is to describe the varieties (or sources) of immorality. He says there are six. Three of them involve belief, by the agent, that his or her action is wrong. In the other three, the agent does not believe that the action is wrong, even though it is. Two of the varieties involve bad preferences (or values); two involve lack of (rational) self-control; and two involve lack of moral concern (i.e., lack of concern for the interests of others). In effect, Ron created a two-by-three diagram of types of immorality. Here are his names for the six types, together with their characteristics:

1. Perverse wickedness. The agent believes (falsely) that the action is right, and acts accordingly; the agent’s moral defect is bad preferences (values).

2. Preferential wickedness. The agent believes (correctly) that the action is wrong, but does it anyway because of bad preferences (values).

3. Moral negligence. The agent does not believe that the action is wrong (even though it is); the agent’s moral defect is lack of self-control. (Put differently, one fails to prevent one’s desires and emotions from obscuring or distorting one’s judgment.)

4. Moral weakness. The agent believes (correctly) that the action is wrong, but does it anyway because of lack of self-control. (Put differently, one allows one’s desires and emotions to prevent one from acting on one’s judgment.)

5. Amorality. The agent does not believe that the action is wrong (even though it is); the agent’s moral defect is lack of moral concern. (Put differently, one’s lack of moral concern accounts for one’s not bothering to make any moral judgment.)

6. Moral indifference. The agent believes (correctly) that the action is wrong, but does it anyway because of lack of moral concern. (Put differently, one’s lack of moral concern accounts for one’s not acting on one’s moral judgment.)

I believe that meat-eaters exhibit all six types of immorality. Here is a brief discussion of each:

1. Perversely wicked meat-eaters believe that meat-eating is morally permissible, or even required, when in fact it is impermissible. This class includes (but is not limited to) those who believe that their god requires or allows meat-eating, those who believe that animals can’t (and hence don’t) suffer, and those who believe that animals lack interests (i.e., those who believe that animals have no moral status).

2. Preferentially wicked meat-eaters believe, correctly, that meat-eating is morally impermissible, but do it anyway, because they prefer the pursuit of some other desired end to the avoidance of wrongdoing. In other words, they believe that meat-eating is prima facie wrong, but not ultima facie wrong (wrong all things considered). This class includes (but is not limited to) those who believe that meat is essential to health and who assign a moral value to their health. They prefer their health (or the health of their loved ones) to the welfare of the animals whose flesh they eat.

3. Morally negligent meat-eaters allow their desire for animal flesh (or certain emotions) to obscure or distort their judgment. Their tastes prevent them from taking vegetarian arguments seriously, from thinking clearly, from reasoning soundly, from attending to the facts of animal suffering, &c. They are (culpably) ignorant that what they do is in violation of their own moral principles. This class has many members, unfortunately.

4. Morally weak meat-eaters believe, correctly, that they act wrongly, but don’t exercise requisite self-control. They fail to make their behavior conform to their moral principles. They succumb to temptation. If you’ve eaten meat for a long time and decide to give it up for moral reasons, you will be tempted to backslide. It’s only natural. If you fail to resist the temptation, you exhibit moral weakness. This class has more members than you might think.

5. Amoral meat-eaters lack moral concern for animals, or for certain animals (those they eat). As a result, they have no moral principles (convictions) pertaining to the act of meat-eating. They don’t even bother to consider whether it is right or wrong. They don’t see it as a moral issue.

6. Morally indifferent meat-eaters judge, correctly, that meat-eating is wrong, but don’t care that it’s wrong, and therefore do not act on their judgment. They are insensitive or indifferent to the feelings and interests of animals.

I should point out that Ron Milo does not apply his typology to animals. He does mention animals from time to time, however. If you’re interested in ethics, you should acquire and read Ron’s book. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.