Should cultured meat be refused in the name of animal dignity?

Cultured meat, like any new technology, raises inevitable ethical issues. For example, on animal ethics grounds, it may be argued that reformed livestock farming in which animals' lives are worth living constitutes a better alternative than cultured meat, which, along with veganism, implies the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethical theory and moral practice 2018-04, Vol.21 (2), p.387-411
Main Author: Chauvet, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural biotechnology
Analysis
Animal ethics
Animals
Cruelty to animals
Cultured meat
Education
Ethical aspects
Ethical dilemmas
Ethics
Extinction
Farming
Genetically engineered foods
Human dignity
Livestock
Meat
New technology
Ontology
Philosophy
Philosophy of Medicine
Political Philosophy
Theory of Medicine/Bioethics
Tissue engineering
Veganism
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Summary:Cultured meat, like any new technology, raises inevitable ethical issues. For example, on animal ethics grounds, it may be argued that reformed livestock farming in which animals' lives are worth living constitutes a better alternative than cultured meat, which, along with veganism, implies the extinction of farm animals. Another ethical argument is that, just as we would undermine human dignity by producing and consuming meat that is grown from human cells, eating meat that is grown from nonhuman animal cells would violate animal dignity because it is a way to create an us and them, which would make veganism the only ethical option. The present study challenges this argument. First, I examine the fundamental issue of whether cultured meat provides such an attack on animal dignity. The second issue is whether, assuming that it is true that cultured meat undermines animal dignity, it would be acceptable to reject cultured meat even though this implies sacrificing nonhuman animals.
ISSN:1386-2820
1572-8447
DOI:10.1007/s10677-018-9888-4