Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Veganism as a Food Ethic

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Eating and Drinking

Abstract

In this chapter, we distinguish veganism from neighboring eating patterns and explain different ways of understanding a vegan ethic. We then consider several values at stake in eating and using animal products. Finally, we consider ways of using conclusions about value to assess animal agriculture, individuals’ food choices, and social and political institutions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bekoff, M. (2010). The emotional lives of animals: A leading scientist explores animal joy, sorrow, and empathy – And why they matter. Novato: New World Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnhill, A. (2016). Does locavorism keep it too simple? In A. Chignell, T. Cuneo, & M. C. Halteman (Eds.), Philosophy comes to dinner: Arguments on the ethics of eating (pp. 232–253). London New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bittman, M. (2007). How to cook everything vegetarian: Simple meatless recipes for great food. Hoboken: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruckner, D. (2015). Strict vegetarianism is immoral. In B. Bramble & R. Fischer (Eds.), Moral complexities of eating meat (pp. 30–47). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Budolfson, M. (2018). The inefficacy objection to consequentialism and the problem with the expected consequences response. Philosophical studies, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-018-1087-6.

  • Campbell, T. C., & Campbell, T. M. (2005). The China study: The most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted and the startling implications for diet, weight loss and long-term health. Dallas: BenBella Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chartier, G. (2006). On the threshold argument against consumer meat purchases. Journal of Social Philosophy, 37(2), 233–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coetzee, J. M. (2001). The lives of animals. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, C. (2010, April 7). Consider the Oyster. Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2248998/

  • Crisp, R. (2017). Well-being. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2017 Edition). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2017/entries/well-being/

  • Donaldson, S., & Kymlicka, W. (2011). Zoopolis: A political theory of animal rights. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairlie, S. M. (2010). A benign extravagance. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley, J. A., et al. (2011). Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature, 478(7369), 337–342.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2014). The role of livestock in climate change. The website of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. http://www.fao.org/agriculture/lead/themes0/climate/en/

  • Freegan Info. (2018). What is a freegan?. Retrieved August 24, 2018, from https://freegan.info/

  • Go Vegan Box. (n.d.). Ostrovegan – Sensible or senseless? The Ethics Surrounding Eating Oysters and Mussels. Retrieved August 24 2018, from https://goveganbox.com/ostroveganism/

  • Goodland, R., & Anhang, J. (2009). Livestock and climate change. Worldwatch, 22(6), 10–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gruen, L., & Jones, R. C. (2015). Veganism as an aspiration. In B. Bramble & R. Fischer (Eds.), Moral complexities of eating meat (pp. 153–171). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Huemer, M. (2019). Dialogues on ethical vegetarianism. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacquet, J, Sebo, J, &Elder, M. (2017). Seafood in the future: Bivalves are better. Solutions, 8(1), 27–32. https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/seafood-future-bivalves-better/

  • Jaworska, A., & Tannenbaum, J. (2018). The grounds of moral status. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Spring 2018 Edition). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/grounds-moral-status/

  • Lomasky, L. (2013). Is it wrong to eat animals? Social Philosophy and Policy, 30, 177–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marquis, D. (1989). Why abortion is immoral. Journal of Philosophy, 86(4), 183–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, J., & Singer, P. (1990). Animal factories (2nd ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McPherson, T. (2016). Why I am a vegan (and you should be one too). In A. Chignell, T. Cuneo, & M. Halteman (Eds.), Philosophy comes to dinner (pp. 73–91). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McPherson, T. (2018). Ethical basis of veganism. In A. Barnhill, M. Budolfson, & T. Doggett (Eds.), Oxford handbook of food ethics (pp. 209–240). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michaelson, E. (2013). The Accommodator’s Dilemma. The Discerning Brute (blog). Posted May 29th 2013. http://www.thediscerningbrute.com/2013/05/29/the-accommodators-dilemma/

  • Nagel, T. (1979). Death. In Mortal questions (pp. 1–10). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M. (2006). Frontiers of justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peralta, J. M., Reynolds, J., & Kerr, C. V. (2014). Sustainability and animal agriculture. In Encyclopedia of food and agricultural ethics (pp. 1673–1679). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimm, S., Jenkins, C. N., Abell, R., Brooks, T. M., Gittleman, J. L., Joppa, L. N., Raven, P. H., Roberts, C. M., & Sexton, J. O. (2014). The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection. Science, 344(6187). https://doi.org/10.1126/SCIENCE.1246752.

  • Plunkett, D. (2016). Justice, non-human animals, and the methodology of political philosophy. Jurisprudence, 7(1), 1–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rachels, S. (2011). Vegetarianism. In T. Beauchamp & R. G. Frey (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of animal ethics (pp. 877–905). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tannsjo, T. (2017). It’s getting better all the time. In A. Barnhill, M. Budolfson, & T. Doggett (Eds.), Food, ethics, and society (pp. 362–366). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trubek, A., & Doggett, T. (2014). Gustatory pleasure and food. In P. B. Thompson & D. M. Kaplan (Eds.), Encyclopedia of food and agricultural ethics (pp. 1147–1154). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, P., Rubart-Berg, P., McKenzie, S., Kelling, K., & Lawrence, R. S. (2005). Public health implications of meat production and consumption. Public Health Nutrition, 8(4), 348–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgian Court University, Lakewood, NJ, USA

    Corey Katz

  2. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Tristram McPherson

Authors
  1. Corey Katz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tristram McPherson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tristram McPherson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific Committee, Institut Paul Bocuse, Rockport, MA, USA

    Herbert L. Meiselman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Katz, C., McPherson, T. (2019). Veganism as a Food Ethic. In: Meiselman, H. (eds) Handbook of Eating and Drinking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_85-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_85-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75388-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75388-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation