The psychologist Jonathan Haidt is a pioneer in the study of disgust as motivator of moral judgments. In some of his early experiments, he asked individuals to evaluate the ethics of situations which are upsetting even though they do not involve the infliction of suffering or harm. One of his scenarios involved eating pets: A family's dog was killed by a car in front of their home. They had heard that dog meat was delicious so they cut the dog's body up and ate it for dinner. Haidt then ask his subjects if it is okay for a person to eat their dead pet and to explain the logic behind their answer.
When I pose this scenario to my university psychology students, nearly all of them conclude that it would be wrong for the family to eat their deceased dog. Most of them, however, cannot come up with a coherent logical reason for their decision. After all, the dead dog is not going to suffer. They tell me it just feels wrong. It's the yuck factor. And …show more content…
In his book Cat Sense, John Bradshaw shows how attitudes towards cats differ widely between societies and can change rapidly. In ancient Egypt, cats were deified, in the Middle Ages they were vilified, and over the last two hundred years, they have become objects of our affection. Now we can add "some we eat" to the list. Indeed, a million cats are consumed each year in Asia. In parts of Africa, eating cat meat is associated with good luck, and in some rural villages in Switzerland cat is served up for Christmas dinner.
Third, eating animals can be risky. The researchers point out that cat meat is potentially perilous as cats are often infected with toxoplasmosis and other contagious diseases. They argue that public health officials in Madagascar should discourage the consumption of road kill and cats that have died of natural causes.
And they urge cat eaters to thoroughly cook feline
When I pose this scenario to my university psychology students, nearly all of them conclude that it would be wrong for the family to eat their deceased dog. Most of them, however, cannot come up with a coherent logical reason for their decision. After all, the dead dog is not going to suffer. They tell me it just feels wrong. It's the yuck factor. And …show more content…
In his book Cat Sense, John Bradshaw shows how attitudes towards cats differ widely between societies and can change rapidly. In ancient Egypt, cats were deified, in the Middle Ages they were vilified, and over the last two hundred years, they have become objects of our affection. Now we can add "some we eat" to the list. Indeed, a million cats are consumed each year in Asia. In parts of Africa, eating cat meat is associated with good luck, and in some rural villages in Switzerland cat is served up for Christmas dinner.
Third, eating animals can be risky. The researchers point out that cat meat is potentially perilous as cats are often infected with toxoplasmosis and other contagious diseases. They argue that public health officials in Madagascar should discourage the consumption of road kill and cats that have died of natural causes.
And they urge cat eaters to thoroughly cook feline