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Comment by mostly_harmless | Hacker News Reader

I think sentient is probably closer to his definition. Yes, vegetables are 'alive', but (as current knowledge) they do not feel. Which reduces the apprehension of eating it.

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This line of thinking drifts into uncomfortable territory relating to cannibalism of euthanized elders, after all if they're not sentient around the time of death and those at the bedside vigil are hungry ... Just saying that as a moral/ethical argument its a minefield, not simple.

As a worse example of the same path, castration of bulls has always been seen as "OK" for convenience in raising beef, none the less I'm thinking a somewhat higher "brain-ectomy" of livestock isn't going to fix everything up for vegetarians.

>As a worse example of the same path, castration of bulls has always been seen as "OK" for convenience in raising beef, none the less I'm thinking a somewhat higher "brain-ectomy" of livestock isn't going to fix everything up for vegetarians.

Well of course not. You're still ending a sentient life. You're just separate out the sentience ending from the life ending.

So? Cannibalism of euthanized elders doesn't seem immoral. It is not an accepted practice in most human cultures, because of emotional ties. Cannibalism itself was a prevalent phenomenon throughout human history. Although, my view of ethics mostly aligns with Peter Singer.

"This line of thinking drifts into uncomfortable territory relating to cannibalism of euthanized elders"

Obviously, being such a common practice.

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