Quote:
Originally Posted by Ea
Before I could answer that, I'd like to know what 'capacity to suffer' means exactly. Does it involve having a complex nervous system* for example - but who's to say that an orchid suffers less than a mosquito suffers less than a mouse when either are killed (for example).
*understood in a very broad sense as in being able to respond to stimuli from the outside, which I would say plants are able to
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I'd go along with the 'complex nervous system' idea - buts it's hard to see why plants would evolve to experience pain, as it wouldn't benefit them - given their inability to avoid the source of suffering.
Also, even if plants were able to experience suffering, and it became practically impossible for us to avoid causing pain to them and go on living ourselves - should we not minimise the amount of suffering we cause?
A lot of meat eaters berate vegetarians with the 'how do you know the carrot doesn't suffer?' argument. But even if that were true, there would still be much less suffering in a nut cutlet than in a steak - which comes from far more plants, as well as the cow.