Table of Contents1. The Vegan Definition1a. Intro1b. How to explain what veganism is1c. Why not other definitions?1d. What specifically is wrong with other definitions?1e. Good definitions1f. Outro2. Arguments for Veganism2a. Intro2b. General Purpose – Name The Trait2c. Consequentialist – Marginal cases2d. Virtue Ethics – Respect for Animal Capabilities2e. Deontology – The Golden Rule2f. Nihilist Ethics – Property Rights for Animals2g. Outro3. Formal Syllogisms3a. General Purpose – Name The Trait3b. Consequentialist – Marginal Cases3c. Virtue Ethics – Respect for Animal Capabilities3d. Deontology – The Golden Rule3e. Nihilist Ethics – Property Rights for Animals4. References.1. The Vegan Definition1a. IntroHello, okay this is going to be the first of two videos, where in this first video I introduce my preferred definition of veganism, explain why I think it’s the best one for advocacy, then in the second video run you through 5 a-mazing arguments for veganism and how best to argue for it. This is mainly for vegans to become better skilled at advocating, but any feedback is more than welcome..1b. How to explain what veganism isI define veganism as simply “an animal products boycott.”I make the point of saying it’s one campaign tactic among many, aimed primarily at achieving the end of animal agriculture.And that personally I see the principle behind the action as being grounded in the animal rights movement, seeking collective legal rights for animals to have a refuge in dense wildlife habitat where they aren’t subject to human cruelty. In a similar way to how the act of boycotting South African products or the act of boycotting the Montgomery bus company was grounded in a larger civil rights movement.Other boycotts didn’t have a specific name for the identity one took on when boycotting, the principle for why they boycotted was contained in what it meant to be part of a larger movement e.g. being a civil rights advocate. So I would just encourage people to think of themselves as animal rights advocates first, fighting for the legal protection of animals. Though you could also call yourself an animal liberation advocate fighting to free non-human animals to be able to express their capabilities in managed wildlife habitat or a sanctuary.As for why someone would arrive at the ethical conclusion to boycott, it could be a million ways, but the three main ethical schools of thought you can draw from are consequentialism, virtue ethics and deontology. I would just be prepared to tailor your arguments to the person you’re standing in front of, as we’ll discuss in the second video. It’s not important for you to know the school you’re arguing from, but I’ll give you them anyway as an introduction to each ethical argument for an animal products boycott.So, five ways to explain the principle that got you into veganism and what branch of philosophy it may be related to:Hedonistic Utilitarianism: The principle of not breeding sentient life into the world where you know you will cause more suffering on a global calculus than happiness. Examples: climate change, stress and pain in slaughterhouse than longer happy life in wild with low rates of predation, stress to slaughterhouse workers who are more likely to abuse their family).Preference Consequentialism: The principle of not breeding sentient life into the world to kill when you know they will have interests to go on living longer than would be profitable. Examples: They have habits for things they’d like to do each day and they show you by their desire not to be loaded onto scary trucks and to a slaughterhouse with screams and smells of death.Virtue Ethics: The principle of not breeding a sentient life into captivity when you know you could leave room for other animals to enjoy happy flourishing being able to express all their capabilities in wild habitat. Not wanting to parasitically take away life with meaning for low-order pleasure in our hierarchy of needs which we can find elsewhere.Deontology: The principle of everyone should only act in such a way that it would still be acceptable to them if it were to become universal law. So not breeding sentient life into existence, only to keep them confined, tear families apart and kill them later, as you wouldn’t want it to happen to you.Nihlist Ethics: The principle that you should be wary of in-authentically acting in a way you don’t believe due to outside social pressures, like that acting un-caringly is necessary to what it means to be a man. So testing out values you were brought up with against new ones as you go and coming to the conclusion that you prefer a society where most have the value of seeing animals flourishing in nature and not in captivity/pain..1c. Why not use other definitions?The reason I would encourage people to use the definition “an animal products boycott” and not other definitions is it gets at the root motivation people have for being ...
