turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin) (08/21/90)
----- Follow-ups to sci.bio only. ----- In article <1990Aug19.233106.371@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu>, djr@cslvs4.csl.ncsu.edu (David Rasmussen) writes: >> You have stated that a tiger is a person. Is it the "unwilling >> slavery" of the tiger to tell him not to eat the chimp? In article <2947@wpg.com>, russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence) writes: > Personhood is based on an individual's mind, David, not on his diet. > > The fact that either a feline or human hunter may eat a human, a > chimp, a goat or a cantelope [yes, tigers eat cantelopes] is > neither a reflection on the diner's personhood, nor is it a > reflection on the personhood of the objects on the menu. It should be noted in allocating rights to animals that some animals are obligate carnivores. Cats do eat vegetable matter. (For some reason, domestic cats seem to prefer grass.) But they can NOT survive on it. Cats cannot synthesize from a vegetarian diet certain fatty acids that are required for mammalian survival. These they obtain directly from their animal prey. Russell