Category: Ethics
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Why vegans avoid honey
I’m on a photography tour of France right now with a group of people who aren’t vegan. And though everyone is nice about it (at least to my face!), it’s been a bit of a challenge. When I’m trying to get along with people, especially new people, I’m not inclined to go toe-to-toe about reasons…
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Whom do you care for?
Bruges is a lovely town in Belgium, known for its beauty. Think well-preserved medieval buildings and quaint canals. It is also home to one of Europe’s oldest surviving hospital buildings, Sint-Janshospital, which is now a museum. The main hall where they used to care for patients has the grandeur of a church. It operated as…
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The ableism of arguments from intelligence
A friend to whom I recently recommended Ed Yong’s An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms around Us thanked me this week. He loved the book, and rightly so. It’s stellar, as I reported when I read it some time ago. And I was happy to have it brought back to mind.…
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Are vegan foods “highly processed” and is that an objection?
Earlier this week a friend tagged me in a post, suggesting a possible blog topic (thanks, Sam!). The gist was that they keep hearing complaints about how vegan foods are “highly processed,” and yet the Gusto vegan sausages they had for dinner didn’t seem to be. The ingredient list, which my friend included a photo…
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Is imperfect veganism a defence of moral imperfection?
I warn you now: I may not be able effectively to edit out of this message an underlying whine-y tone (will try!). I’m recovering from the sting of SSHRC Insight Grant rejection of an application for funding to support my work on imperfect veganism. I dedicated three months to it last summer and felt really…
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What is a vegan to do when a favourite plant-based business expands to include animal products?
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve heard of two example — one local here in London, Ontario and one elsewhere, in LA — where a formerly fully plant-based business has decided to “change its business model” to include animal products. This decision always generates backlash among vegans, who see it as a betrayal and,…
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The threat of vegan cheese
An interesting story from The Washington Post came across my desk the other day about a vegan cheese that was a finalist in a cheese competition “A vegan cheese beat dairy in a big competition. Then the plot curdled.” The Good Food Foundation is an organization whose “Good Food Awards” recognize exceptional producers in the…
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Philosophers, social justice, and veganism
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a guest post for the blog Biopolitical Philosophy. The blog, launched in 2019 by philosophers Shelley Tremain and Melinda Hall, “provides up-to-date information and cutting-edge critical analysis of biopolitical asymmetries and other mechanisms and effects of power in philosophy and beyond.” You can read more about its mission…
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Major Catering Win: a fully plant-based catered event NOT by my request
What might seem like a little thing is actually huge. I realize I talk about catering a lot. And again I want to make it clear that the reason is not because I am grumpy when I don’t get a decent meal (even though I am indeed grumpy when I don’t get a decent meal…
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Engage or chill?
Considering I’m a philosopher who has essentially been trained to argue, you might think my answer to “when to engage?” is “whenever the opportunity arises.” But that is not my approach at all. I have limited time and energy. I do not engage when it is hopeless. And there is a certain baiting approach, where…
Vegan Practically 