I have become frustrated with KBJ’s blog.
When I first became a reader two summers past I enjoyed his prose and liked the way that he offered reasons defenses of his positions. I found him to be a witty, cordial correspondent. However, as time has worn on, he has become shrilly partisan in the political arena (not necessarily a liability - I still permit the Maximum Leader to associate himself with my own eminent reasonableness). His animal rights posts have featured factually inaccurate misrepresentations. In none of his posts has he addressed the majority of Americans who believe that animals and humans have different moral claims. He has committed the logical fallacy that:
a) Animalssuffer
b) Humans suffer
Therefore:
Animal and human suffering is equal and both have equal moral weight.
I believe that animal suffering should be minimized, but to move from the factual statement that since factory farming is inhumane we should all become vegetarians is ridiculous. There are options that we as a society could choose that would lead to humane farming practices.
The previous logical jump seems akin to: The death penalty is not a deterrent, so therefore we should abolish all punishment for criminals. The conclusion does not necessarily flow from the initial statement.
I tried to engage with him on the issues on a couple of occasions. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be willing to wrestle with the implications of further data. As an example, at one point he argued that eating meat led contributed to world hunger. I pointed out why that was simply not the case. He politely acknowledged my response but never returned to the issue to update his side of the argument in light of new facts.
I’ve come to realize that his position isn’t based on reason - his position on the moral treatment of animals is akin to a religious belief. But I’m consistently maddened that this religious belief is covered by a pose of logical, philosophical argument.
SoDakMonk demolishes one of the essay-links from analphilosopher here. But I doubt that KBJ will respond to explain why SoDakMonk’s points aren’t fatal to the animal rights position. That is what I would like to see. KBJ is a smart, erudite, and articulate man - I’m sure that he could at least begin to address SoDakMonk’s argument. I love a reasoned debate between talented individuals. I wish KBJ would live up to his potential.
Perhaps Big Ho is right - hilarious mockery may be the best response*.
* - Blatant kiss-up link to the Big Hominid.
