Vegetarism

For this week’s discussion assignment, we will be working with a new format. I will begin with a (fairly provocative) post and all following posts will be responses made to the previous posts. You may respond directly to me or to one of your peer’s responses. Your response should be substantive, critical, civil, and novel. I look forward to the discussion and will make several replies to most engaging responses.

Claim/Conclusion: Almost everyone living in the United States should become vegan.

Argument: We should avoid behaviors that cause tremendous amounts of unnecessary suffering to others. Purchasing and consuming animal products leads to a tremendous amount of unnecessary suffering for nonhuman animals (see the documentary “Dominion” for ample evidence). Their suffering is unnecessary because we can be just as healthy (if not more) and happy consuming a vegan diet.

Suggestions for follow-up posts:

1) Critically analyze the claim itself (What does “almost everyone” mean? Who would might be exceptions to the rule and why?)

2) Critically analyze the argument. Does the conclusion follow from the truth of the premises? Are the premises all true? If not, explain why one or more of the premises are false.

3) Offer suggestions for improvement (Is the argument clearly stated, concise, controversial?)

4) Discuss the implications of the argument.

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