russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence) (08/22/90)
In article <2947@wpg.com>, russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence) writes: rl> Personhood is based on an individual's mind, David, not on his diet. rl> rl> The fact that either a feline or human hunter may eat a human, a rl> chimp, a goat or a cantelope [yes, tigers eat cantelopes] is rl> neither a reflection on the diner's personhood, nor is it a rl> reflection on the personhood of the objects on the menu. In article <11397@cs.utexas.edu>, turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin) writes: rt> It should be noted in allocating rights to animals that some rt> animals are obligate carnivores. Cats do eat vegetable matter. rt> (For some reason, domestic cats seem to prefer grass.) But they rt> can NOT survive on it. Cats cannot synthesize from a vegetarian rt> diet certain fatty acids that are required for mammalian survival. rt> These they obtain directly from their animal prey. Absolutely. But how does diet have a bearing on personhood? Are you suggesting that tigers and Burger King patrons aren't persons because they're meat eaters? :-) -- Russell Lawrence, WP Group, New Orleans (504) 443-5000 russ@wpg.com uunet!wpg!russ