Salemicus comments on When should an Effective Altruist be vegetarian? - Less Wrong

27 Post author: KatjaGrace 23 November 2014 05:25AM

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Comment author: Salemicus 23 November 2014 11:33:20PM 3 points [-]

Yes, I view humans as substantially different from chickens and relate to them in a very different way. I view this as a strength of my position, not a weakness.

Comment author: gedymin 24 November 2014 10:59:04AM *  0 points [-]

You should have started by describing your interpretation of what the word "flourish" means. I don't think it's a standard one (any links to prove the opposite?). For now this thread is going nowhere because of disagreements on definitions.

Comment author: Salemicus 24 November 2014 01:29:42PM *  3 points [-]

One of the things I hate most about this website is the people who love to claim that ordinary usages of English words are somehow non-standard or obscure.

flourish /ˈflʌrɪʃ/

verb

  1. (of a living organism) grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly congenial environment.

"wild plants flourish on the banks of the lake"

Do you see anything about "a life worth living"?

Comment author: IlyaShpitser 24 November 2014 02:09:40PM *  1 point [-]

Do you think factory-farmed animals grow and develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly congenial environment?

Comment author: Salemicus 24 November 2014 02:20:55PM 5 points [-]

I'm not sure what you mean by "factory-farmed," but cows, sheep, pigs and free-range chickens seem healthy and vigorous. I've never been inside a battery-farm or a veal pen, but I'll grant arguendo that those animals aren't healthy or vigorous. But that's an argument for eating free-range chicken, not for vegetarianism.

Comment author: DanielLC 24 November 2014 10:12:18PM *  0 points [-]

Does it matter? He has established that he does not think their happiness is important. It's clear you two care about two different things. There is no point in further establishing what he means by "flourish".