Octopuses, crabs and lobsters to be recognised as sentient beings under UK law

Re:Octopuses, crabs and lobsters to be recognised as sentien... by TaylorAlexander on Monday November 22, 2021 @02:26PM (#29310574)

I’d be happy if we started at simply not killing lobsters and other animals for food (or for any other industrial purpose). You’re right that we could spend a lot of time debating the finer points of it but as you said: lobsters are easy. By that logic I would imagine so are chickens and cows and baby sheep (lamb) and pigs. So let’s start with the “easy” stuff. Whether or not we allow ourselves to harm insects or something while harvesting grains is another question. We could ponder whether it’s ethical to kill bacteria, but we’d die if we didn’t do that so let’s not fret about that.

A lot of people in this thread seem to be suggesting that since we can’t pin down an absolute answer we should what… do nothing? If you really mean to say that deciding not to eat lobsters is easy then let’s go with that logic and stop eating all the bigger animals too. Seems an easy place to start.

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Re:Octopuses, crabs and lobsters to be recognised as sentien... by bumby on Tuesday November 23, 2021 @03:11PM (#29322737)

>A lot of people in this thread seem to be suggesting that since we can’t pin down an absolute answer we should what… do nothing?

I don't think this is the most generous take. I think what most people are trying to find is the underlying principles. Consider the following potential first principles:

1) Minimize suffering

2) Minimize animal death

3) Minimize charismatic mega fauna death

4) Minimize climate impacts

5) Maximize human health

6) Maximize human performance

7) Maximize human longevity (healthspan or lifespan)

Each of those can lead down different, sometimes competing tracts. Can vegan/vegetarianism be compatible with any of those? Sure. Can it optimize all of them at the same time? I'm doubtful. It's certainly possible that in the rush to do something we end up on the wrong trade-off. That's why it's import to drill down on exactly what one is claiming is ultimately important.

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