Well, Meat Logic addresses the questions and assertions you may get from a philosophical point of view. It’s pretty comprehensive and covers everything from the common ‘We’re at the top of the food chain’ to the reasonable ‘People in the industry would lose their jobs’ to the just plain annoying ‘Mmmmm, Bacon’. Even if you feel like you have answers to these points, the chances are there may be some issues in here that you’d not thought of before. This book would certainly be of help to the new vegan and even for a relatively old hand like me, it was helpful. We’re always learning and it’s important to remain open to new information.
The book takes an incredibly logical approach. First, there’s a brief introduction to the relationship between philosophy and animals. This is really useful, as it lays the groundwork for most arguments. It poses many interesting scenarios, such as if beings came to this planet who were smarter than us and had the power to lock us up in sheds, would that give them the right to eat us? Animals are worthy of moral consideration because they think and feel and everything stems from that.
The book then goes point by point through each ‘objection’. It devotes many paragraphs to each one, from the easy to disprove ‘Animals are just things’ to ‘We wouldn’t have evolved big brains if our ancestors hadn’t eaten meat’ which may require a little more thought. Throughout the book the tone is calm, rational and measured. There are notes on each topic at the back of the book, giving more detail and sometimes suggestions for further reading, as well as a bibliography.
This is an extremely useful read if you sometimes find yourself at a loss during discussions. It will give you plenty of facts, but the basic principle that runs throughout the book i.e. that animals matter, should see you right in most situations. Meat Logic to me is pretty simple. Just because we can, doesn’t mean that we should.