malik@galaxy.DEC (Karl Malik ZK01-1/F22 1-1440) (01/28/86)
Aesthetics revisited. I did not mean to trivialize the issue by suggesting it was a matter of aesthetics. In fact, just the opposite. You assume that killing animals is 'bad' or 'wrong'. What is your proof? What possible proof could there be? Just substituting other words (cruel, insensitive, etc.) does not consitute a proof. Pointing out that it is inconsistant with a particular system of ethics or morality doesn't help, either. I could find different systems that disagreed. Who's to say which system is 'better'? So, what to do? I would prefer a world in which the senseless slaughter of animals (and man) was not commonplace. But, I do not believe that my particular view of the world is absolute truth. Being unable to provide a consistant and rational explanation of why killing is 'bad', I am forced to consider whether the issue is better explained by aesthetics. Killing is ugly, messy, wasteful. Perhaps that is all one can say. - Karl