If it's OK to eat animals because they're not sentient, are emotionless etc. Is it OK to eat the braindead?

Question

Rephrased due to responses missing the point.

Answer 1

Only if they are properly cooked.

Answer 2

How would you, for example, decide whether what you see in front is a sunset or a sunrise if you do not stand at one fixed place on the Earth for a horizon? To people living in one part of the globe sunrise is what to the people on the opposite side is but a sunset. What is right and what is wrong, we cannot decide until we include ourselves in the debate and consider what is good and what is bad for us. If we forget where we are in an argument we are completely and utterly lost.

If I may point out than I would like to say that you do not seem to be full grasp the human reality of your own question, as if you have excluded yourself from the matter while you included the animal upon which the entire reason for your argument rests. This is a relatively controversial topic and you have, properly enough, given it a shocking twist by including an idea that you know is disgusting and provocative to most people. Is it that you just wanted to attract as many responses as you could, if I may say so?

The fundamental thing in deciding what is good and what is bad for us depends upon us. It depends upon considering and maintaining our human standpoint. You question has taken into account the animal side of the argument all right, but it has left our human side completely out of the argument. This invalidates the reason for your questioning in the first part of your question. How would, for example, we, the normal human beings, feel if somehow something brings us to the brink of eating the brain-dead? My answer is that it is not ‘ok’ for me and I do not think it is so for any other person either. I hope you will agree with me too.

Answer 3

lol. not one for beating around the bush are you? A lot of people do jstify harming animals by saying animals lack reason, or cannot talk, or whatever. But obviously these people would feel disgust at doing the same thing to a human with equal abilities. The real issue behind treating animals poorly is simply that they're animals. Its blind speciesism. By the way, animals are sentient ("Having sense perception" http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/sentient) and do have emotions. anybody that claims that the lack of these traits in animals makes it ok to abuse them needs to take another look at the facts. What is more justifiably claimed is that animals generally have lesser intelligence, lack rationality, lack language, or lack self-consciousness. But as we see in the cases of humans lacking these traits, this doesn't mean they deserve no ethical consideration.

shemayram...: you're completely wrong. a brain dead person is not sentient. Look up the definition of sentience. They do not feel or experience, nor are they conscious. The asker is making a really good point that you seem to be too stupid to understand. Humans do not need to eat animals to survive or be healthy. Yes we do need protein, but protein can be obtained from sources that do not suffer. I'm a vegetarian and i do not need to eat meat or even take supplements to obtain enough protein for a healthy life. If we can live a helathy life without causing suffering, then don't we have a moral obligation to do so? Not causing unnecessary suffering is the core of morality. You demostrate a total ignorance of nutrition, ethics, and reason with your post, then have the audacity to call the asker names.

Answer 4

Its not OK for people to eat animals because they are not sentient, its because they are not us. We in 2006 did not choose to suddenly eat animals. Early man started eating animals so we are just used to it. If our ancestors were canibals then we would have no problem eating the braindead.

Now thats not very social. And caring for a braindead shows the sense of community.

no one cares if you eat a rabbit alive... but if you do the same to a human youre on the front page.

you seem like a vegan tree hugger..

im not being inconsiderate or something like that, but just think for a moment, they are animals. they are stupid. they feel much less pain than humans do. and they are completely pointless. They have no purpose, they are like the step before us in evolution. im a vegetarian by the way.

I dont know the purpose of human existance but the purpose of animals will definitely be less significant that us. I mean come on what are animals ? they are just flesh with a bit of instinct. They just move around with food and shelter on their mind. That is soo unnecessary, you can just wipe out every animal on earth and it wouldnt matter.

Evolution is taking its course it started out with single cell organisms to human beings. everything in between has been or will be wiped out.

i dint exactly think this through... just random thoughts put together. any way the point is you really need to think why you are vegetarian. If its because you find animals being cut up and blood spilled everywhere morally wrong, then you are just acting on emotions. Most people find that inhuman. but animals are really low on importance.

Answer 5

All animals are sentient. In fact it is quite possible to say that the entire Universe is sentient. But this does not necesarrily stop us eating each other, if we are hungry enough. There are worse things in Life than eating meat. Just because it offends your precious sensibilities don't go all fascistic and try to impose your (entirely circumscribed) view on other people. And we are not fundamentally different in any case. We are more animal than human, both biologically and emotionally. Long live the brain stem!

Answer 6

the braindead are not the same as animals . keep trying ....
And some very primitive societies did canabalize .this not a question of nutrition but social value. And people don't think of
loved ones when they eat a cheeseburger do they.
and who says animals are emotionless ? So one might also ask
why i'm not the son of a jackal as well ? It just doesn't work that way!

Answer 7

Even the brain dead are sentient, even if they're on life support. If one is DEAD then they are no longer "sentinent" per say. You're just a troll and people give you far too much attention.

It is not okay to eat the braindead. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard to defend vegetarianism.

Yes, it is okay to eat animal as it is the best source of protein and the human body requires large portions of protein to SURVIVE and be healthy. Any nutritionist will not recommend some to be a vegetarian because our bodies require more than vegetables and fruits to survive. Our bodies become malnutritioned without meat. "Vitamin Supplements" are not near enough to help us.

Answer 8

Yes it is. I will bite the bullet and say yes it is OK.
However in a case of brain dead -- he might have family that will feel bad, and we might want to spare their feelings (animals on the other hand have no SENTIENT relatives). But if the brain dead has no family or friends -- and is a complete vegetable there should be no barrier to euthanasia.
And once he is dead it should be not a problem to eat the corpse. In fact some societies eat their dead as a great honor.

Your question breaks down into two question
"Is euthanasia OK for brain dead?"
and
"Is cannibalism OK for those already dead?"
Neither question relates to eating animals, you just play on emotions based on cultural taboos.
In fact your question can be taken as an argument for euthanizing and eating brain dead.

Answer 9

Your argument about animals not being sentient and being emotionless is flawed. Anyone who works with livestock knows this.

No, it's not ok to eat the brain dead. Mad cow disease resulted from cattle being fed parts of other cattle in their feed. Cannibalism among humans might have the same effect--and be undetectable for years. Mad cow disease generally doesn't appear for four to eight years.

Even if there were not moral issues against eating the dead, there are medical reasons it should not be done.

Answer 10

First of any of you who said some one brain dead hase emotion, congrates you are totaly Fing retarded.

The brain, is you, all that you know and feel is the brain, you ARE your brain. It goes you go. Once the brain is dead, all that you fealt, loved, remeber is gon, all that you evere, the very essense of you is dead. So then if the person is brain dead they are no longer a they, them, their. what was a thay has become an it, it breathes, it proseces chemicles, it repairs, but it is nothing than an over glorified chemicle plant.

So sure why not? Harvest the organs and give or sell them to people who need them and have a BBQ with whats left, animals are actualy more aware then a baby as they are at a full functioning level, and they are far more self awar then a brain dead person LOL even a rock is more self aware then a brain dead person!

Once the brain goes you are nothing more then a chemicle plant that sits idling, the essence of all that you where is gon with the brain.

Please for the love of your mythology LEARN SOME FING BIOLOGY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 11

Well if we are to assume that we are animals (taking the "evolution" route) then we are just a part of nature so that when the lion eats the zebra we are just doing the same thing, are we not?

Taking the Christian way, we were given domain over all the animals, however that power also requires responsiblity.