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I think any ethical discussion on this also needs to consider the similar practice of eating human placenta, though note that there is not very solid evidence o

I think any ethical discussion on this also needs to consider the similar practice of eating human placenta, though note that there is not very solid evidence of any mainstream widespread practice. Note that some animals regularly eat their own placenta.

cmroanirgo 6y ago
And although there's other animals that either a) eat their spouses (spiders) b) eat their children (crocs), c) raid the nests of other species, kill their children and get the other species to raise ours (cuckoo). Homicide, fratricide, patricide, theft, rape (gang and single) & torture are all common place in nature. The list of atrocities of what's available in nature to me is never a good litmus test of what we as conscious humane beings should condone. We can do better than exhibit the mindless behavior (as a result of our desires) that animals do.
- smegger001 6y ago
  yeah between cannibalistic raids by troops of chimpanzees, dolphin gang rape, necrophilic ducks, and the bloodlust of your average housecat, I don't get the people that refer to nature as harmonious or somehow more moral than humans. I mean have heard of parasitic wasps, or tongue eating louse?
- jhanschoo 6y ago
  > The list of atrocities of what's available in nature to me is never a good litmus test of what we as conscious humane beings should condone. We can do better than exhibit the mindless behavior (as a result of our desires) that animals do. I don't think that it's a good litmus test, but I don't think that it's pointless to reflect on what ethical rules would have to say if we treated animals in the capacity of humans, similar to how philosophers discuss marginal cases. Animals aren't exactly mindless, but behave differently in great part because they evolved differently, and may cease to thrive if certain ethical rules applied to them. The environmental pressures that led to certain behaviors being optimal for animals can inform us on what's ethical and what's not for humans.

cmroanirgo 6y ago

And although there's other animals that either a) eat their spouses (spiders) b) eat their children (crocs), c) raid the nests of other species, kill their children and get the other species to raise ours (cuckoo). Homicide, fratricide, patricide, theft, rape (gang and single) & torture are all common place in nature. The list of atrocities of what's available in nature to me is never a good litmus test of what we as conscious humane beings should condone. We can do better than exhibit the mindless behavior (as a result of our desires) that animals do.

smegger001 6y ago
yeah between cannibalistic raids by troops of chimpanzees, dolphin gang rape, necrophilic ducks, and the bloodlust of your average housecat, I don't get the people that refer to nature as harmonious or somehow more moral than humans. I mean have heard of parasitic wasps, or tongue eating louse?
jhanschoo 6y ago
> The list of atrocities of what's available in nature to me is never a good litmus test of what we as conscious humane beings should condone. We can do better than exhibit the mindless behavior (as a result of our desires) that animals do. I don't think that it's a good litmus test, but I don't think that it's pointless to reflect on what ethical rules would have to say if we treated animals in the capacity of humans, similar to how philosophers discuss marginal cases. Animals aren't exactly mindless, but behave differently in great part because they evolved differently, and may cease to thrive if certain ethical rules applied to them. The environmental pressures that led to certain behaviors being optimal for animals can inform us on what's ethical and what's not for humans.