Philosophy of Veganism

What is veganism? Is it a lifestyle or a life choice made to "be different" in the eyes of people?
Veganism, in its simplest definition, means not eating, wearing or using any animal products. Such a
life choice seems impossible for most people. Is such a world just a product of our imagination, or is
it an illusion given to us by saying there is no other way? In this article, I will talk about what this
philosophy of veganism is.

When it comes to veganism, we must first talk about the concept of ethics. Ethics is an abstract
concept and it is difficult to talk about it because what is ethical and what is unethical changes over
the years. There are big phenomena like state, religion or culture that tell us what is ethical and what
is not. Although eating dog and cat meat is unethical and offensive in most cultures, eating other
creatures such as cows, sheep, and fish is a completely normal eating habit. When you look at India,
eating cow meat is never acceptable, but cows have a place in most cultures, including ours. While
pork is not eaten in the Islamic world, it is not missing in the West. This is a type of food. The reason
why 3-5 out of thousands of animal species are considered reasonable is due to species
discrimination. While there is so much intercultural speciesism, we are taught entirely in food culture
not to separate or eat any animal from another. For this reason, we cannot generalize when talking
about ethics through culture. What may not seem ethical to us may be a normal dish for other
countries. What we really need to think about is that even though these animals do not have a
conscious system as developed as ours, they have a consciousness and can perceive love and pain. It
is an "ethical" issue to offer it as food to creatures with emotional systems similar to ours. At this
point most people compare plants and animals. Plants also have consciousness, but this is not a
consciousness like us animal species. The organism works differently, its movements resemble a
reaction, not a reaction. The images and reactions that will arise when we slaughter a tomato and a
cow will be obvious. In this respect, it should be discussed which one is more ethical

Another aspect of the vegan philosophy is the sustainability part. Natural resources on Earth are
rapidly depleting and are insufficient for the increasing population. We need to do our best to
protect the resources born in such an age. Cow farms, which play a negative role in the climate crisis,
produce large amounts of methane because they breed cows in an uncontrolled manner. This
methane gas affects the world in a position against us in the climate crisis. Veganism is therefore an
action that also includes sustainability

Another biggest reason for veganism is the exploitation of animals. Our eating habits are shaped by
culture and capitalism. There is always a perception that we can only get nutrients and vitamins from
animal products, whereas animals are just a tool. Plants get the real vitamins from the soil, the more
fertile the soil, the better the vitamins. Animal cells have amino acids that can convert these vitamins
into a different form. That's why they actually act as an intermediary. Our lands are becoming more
and more poor due to the climate crisis, so the soil is sprayed with pesticides and vitamins are added,
and animal foods are also supplemented in the same way. If we are going to base vitamins on
veganism, we need to think about why we use animals as intermediaries and eat them, rather than
taking vitamins directly from plants.
There is more than one type of exploitation. The real issue is why we consider exploitation as our
right. Why do we consider all these as our own and have difficulty accepting that animals are also
living things? The biggest reason for this is the god complex. We think that we are above everything
else and above these creatures. We are stuck in a kind of theism game and we have dulled our ability
to empathize with non-human beings. This blunting is further strengthened with various marketing
games. For example, there are differences between eating a whole chicken and eating pieces of
chicken. Our brains are cut into pieces. It is difficult to see items as a whole. As a marketing strategy,
foods such as meat are generally sold in small pieces because this is more attractive to us. As another
example, we see happy chickens in egg boxes, but are chickens really happy? Even when it is called
free-range chickens, what is meant is that there are chickens that can move around in the cage. .We
always see happy cow farms in milk advertisements. But we do not know about the cows that are
separated from their mothers before they can drink that milk. As long as capitalism does not tell us
these facts and constantly exposes us to happy images, we have no doubt about this

Cows are constantly forced to get pregnant so that we can drink milk. Their own babies are sent to
slaughter before they can drink that milk, because if the baby cow drinks milk, there will not be
enough milk for us. Separating small babies from their mothers does not comply with today's ethical
norms. Another example is that lots of eggs are sold so that we can eat more eggs. The chickens are
crammed into a tiny cage and their beaks are cut off so that they cannot peck each other. It cannot
be denied that all these are absolutely heartbreaking situations

I talked about veganism and its philosophy in general terms. Being vegan is definitely a situation that
can be achieved by being aware of something. The background of the foods we bring into our homes,
which we call food, is absolutely full of horror. The philosophy of this lifestyle is to understand the
reality that all living things are like us and that they also have children, rather than love for animals.
REFERENCES
https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (documentry)

Dominion (movie)

Earthlings (documentry)