Jillian Cothran (Pledge)

Dr. Williams

Philosophy of Food

7 December 2014

Hedonistic Egoism and Factory Farming

I will begin this argument with a “basic assumption”: It has been increasingly revealed by scientific evidence that a vegetarian and vegan diet is at least as healthy as, and probably healthier, than a diet that features meat (Fox, “Vegetarianism”). “According to the

ADA [American Dietetic Association], vegetarians are at a lower risk for developing: heart disease, colorectal, ovarian and breast cancers, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension (high blood pressure)” (“Being a Vegetarian”) because a proper vegetarian diet is low in fat and high in fiber. Meat is not essential in the human diet; in fact, meat can be detrimental to human health. Humans worldwide eat on average 102.5 pounds of meat per year;

Americans eat 270.7 pounds of meat per year (Barclay, “A Nation”). This is 270.7 more pounds per year than the average person requires to survive. Factory farming has significantly increased the scale of animal agriculture and made meat so accessible and cheap for human consumption. A reasonable explanation as to why humans, particularly

Americans, eat so much meat is for pleasure. I will argue that the perverse pursuit of pleasure, hedonistic egoism, is the problem with the human condition that accepts and perpetuates the factory farming of animals that supplies so much meat to humans.

The argument stands on two main premises. First, hedonism can lead to the objectification of sentient beings and second, the objectification of a sentient being is immoral. Before explaining these premises, I will define some terms that are important in understanding the premises. Hedonism “states that all and only pleasure is intrinsically [Type text] [Type text] [Type text] 2 valuable and all and only pain is intrinsically not valuable” (Weijers, “Hedonism”).

Hedonistic egoism is the perverse pursuit of that pleasure to which I previously referred. It describes one who does whatever is most in their own interests, that which makes them happiest – whatever provides them with the “most net pleasure after pain is subtracted”

(Weijers, “Hedonism”). Objectification is defined as “the seeing and/or treating a person… as an object” (Papadaki, “Feminist Perspectives”). I will apply this definition, but will apply it to the treatment of sentient beings as an object. Sentient beings may be defined as beings that are “responsive to or conscious of sense impressions,” “aware,” and “finely sensitive in perception or feeling” (“Sentient”). These are the qualities that make sentient beings worthy of being considered subjects-of-a-life and have the capability of being objectified.

Now, I will discuss how hedonistic egoism is in human nature and can lead to the objectification of sentient beings. It is evident in most others of our actions (besides our food choices) that hedonistic egoism is a primary driving motivation, indicating that it is in our nature. For example, the abundant use of pornography among Americans – fifty to ninety-nine percent of men and thirty to eighty-six percent of women – indicates that our choices in many actions/activities that we take part in are driven by our desire for pleasure despite other negative consequences of those actions, and especially if net pleasure is perceived to be positive. Pornography is defined as “the depiction of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement” and it comes from the Greek word pornographos, which means ‘writing about prostitutes’ (Janssen; “Pornography”). Pornography use is an example, like that of factory farming, of an action/activity that is taken part in for the pleasure that results from it. In the case of pornography, it is the pleasure of a sexual experience and in the case of factory farming, it is the pleasure of eating meat because of its 3 Cothran taste. Neither a sexual experience nor eating factory-raised meat is necessary for survival, only for the experience of pleasure, yet both are taken part in abundantly.

This is where objectification enters the discussion. To continue with the concept of pornography, it is an example in which a sentient being is treated as an object, a means to the end of pleasure. The actor(s) in pornographic media is a ‘thing’ to be apprehended, sensed and only used for the end of the sexual pleasure of the viewer and are not valued for being the subject-of-a-life with feelings and awareness. In a similar way, factory farming is not necessary to the survival of those it serves and the animals that are factory-raised are objectified - not treated as beings with feelings and awareness. We have reasonable enough evidence to know that all of the animals that are factory farmed (cows, chickens, pigs, sheep) have feelings and awareness by the ways that they react when faced with danger or actions that inflict pain upon them. On factory farms, animals are not raised living the best life that they could have experienced as sentient beings. They are fed the cheapest nutrient- poor feed, packed in the most space-efficient cages/pins, and grown to ideal size in the shortest amount of time as possible, all in order to provide cheap meat for the pleasure of humanity. These methods are treating animals as objects that are the mere means to the end of pleasure rather than sentient beings that experience feelings and can perceive the quality of life that they are living. Both pornography and factory farming are examples in which hedonistic egoism leads to the objectification of sentient beings.

Now, I will discuss why the objectification of a sentient being is wrong. If the objectification of one sentient being is right, then the objectification of all sentient beings is right. However, it is widely accepted that the objectification of humans is wrong, so the objectification of all sentient beings must be wrong. To accept the objectification of an [Type text] [Type text] [Type text] 4 animal when it is sentient is to accept the objectification of any other being that is sentient, which includes humans.

One might object by saying that it is not immoral to objectify animal bodies via factory farming on the basis that they are not moral agents. To be a moral agent is to have the ability to act according to a set of moral laws, conceiving of the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Animals are different from humans in that they do not have the moral capacity to conceive that they are being acted upon immorally (objectified), therefore it is not wrong to do so.

A response to this objection that further supports the second premise, which states that objectification of a sentient being is wrong, turns the objector’s argument back to humanity first. Not all humans can be classified as moral agents. Mentally handicapped individuals and infants do not have the capacity to act according to a moral code and each have caretakers to make moral decisions on their behalf. We cannot say that it is right to objectify anything as long as it is not a moral agent because that includes some humans. As

I previously stated, it is widely accepted that the objectification of another human being is wrong, even those who are not moral agents. If the objectification of animals on the basis that they are not moral agents is right, then the objectification of mentally handicapped humans and infants must also be right. If the objectification of mentally handicapped humans and infants is wrong by widely accepted principle, then the objectification of animals via factory farming must also be wrong in order to remain consistent.

The logical conclusion to this argument is that it is because of humanity’s hedonistic egoism that factory farming is accepted and perpetuated and that is immoral. Hedonistic egoism leads to the objectification of sentient beings and the objectification of sentient 5 Cothran beings is wrong. Factory farming is an example of the objectification of sentient beings, animals, for the mere pleasure of humanity since eating meat is not necessary in the human diet. Doing something for the mere pleasure of it even if it causes the devaluation of another being (hedonistic egoism) is wrong, so factory farming is wrong. [Type text] [Type text] [Type text] 6

Works Cited:

Barclay, Eliza. “A Nation of Meat Eaters: See How it All Adds Up.” NPR. NPR, 27 Jun 2012.

Web. 6 Dec 2014.

“Being a Vegetarian.” Brown University Health Services, n.d. Web. 6 Dec 2014.

Fox, Michael Allen. “Vegetarianism and Treading Lightly on the Earth.” 1999. Sandor

Teszler Library Course Reserves. PDF File.

Janssen, Erick. “Why People Use Porn.” PBS. ETV, 2002. Web. 6 Dec 2014.

Papadaki, Evangelia (Lina), "Feminist Perspectives on Objectification." The Stanford

Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Web. 6

Dec 2014.

“Pornography.” Oxford Dictonaries. 2014. Web. 6 Dec 2014.

“Sentient.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2014. Web. 6 Dec 2014.

Weijers, Dan. “Hedonism.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d. Web. 6 Dec 2014.