Professor Peter Singer at Princeton University, who has been advocating 'animal liberation' since the 1970s. Last year as a speaker at SBS D Forum, he talked about his efforts to keep his convictions steady for nearly 50 years.
'Animal liberation' and 'animal rights' These words seem to have been heard at least once. Roughly speaking, it means that, as much as animals feel pleasure and pain, humans should be treated equally as tools, without oppression or exploitation.
Specifically, Professor Peter Singer consistently raises the issue of ruthless factory farming and actively recommends vegetarianism.
'Is vegetarianism the only way
to protect animals?' That's not it. Professor Peter Singer said, "Even if you are not vegetarian, there are many ways to protect animal rights," he said.
In the SBS D forum, Peter Singer advised on the power to defend one's convictions in a situation where many people objected, "interact with many people calmly and rationally and get more information." He also recommended that "study philosophy", saying, "In this era, the ability to clearly judge right and wrong is important."
Check out the full version of the lecture by Professor Peter Singer of Princeton University who participated as a speaker at SBS D Forum!
<Peter Singer in SBS D Forum>
SBS D Forum 2021 Professor Peter Singer Session
SBS D Forum 2021 Q&A with Peter Singer
Peter Singer - A true 'solidarity of pain
' delivered by
a pioneer in the animal liberation movement ■Full version of Professor Peter Singer's lecture, 'reading' step by step
Hi everyone. My name is Peter Singer and I'm excited to have the opportunity to talk to all at the SBS D Forum.
Nice to meet you all. This is Peter Singer. I am glad to meet you all through SBS D Forum.
I want to talk to you about the role of ideas in changing our lives and the world.
Today I want to tell you how ideas change our lives and the world.
Let me start by taking you back 50 years to a formative period in my life.
First, let's go back to 50 years ago, an important time in shaping my values today.
I was a graduate student in Oxford, studying philosophy. This is what I looked like then.
At the time, I was a graduate student studying philosophy at Oxford University, and this is what I looked like.
As you can see, I looked like a hippie. I had long hair, a beard and moustache, as
you can see
, I was walking around
like a hippie. He was long-haired and had a mustache and beard.
I had the kind of glasses that John Lennon wore – they were the cheapest, that you could get from the British National Health Service and I was wearing a heavy coat that I had bought from a store selling old army clothing.
The John Lennon-style glasses I wore at the time were the cheapest models available from the British National Health Service. There I wore a thick coat I bought from an old military uniform store.
My political views matched my appearance.
Meanwhile, my political affiliation matched my looks.
In Australia, where I had grown up and completed my undergraduate degree, I was involved in the protest movement against the war in Vietnam, and for the right to abortion.
When I was in Australia, where I was born and went to university, I was also involved in the anti-Vietnam War and anti-abortion campaigns.
But here is the surprising thing: when I went to Oxford I had never thought about the way we treat animals.
Surprisingly, however, he had never thought about the way animals were treated until now.
I ate meat – everyone I knew ate meat.
Naturally, me and everyone around me ate meat.
It's hard to believe today, but I was 24, and I don't think I had ever met a vegetarian.
It's hard to believe now, but when I was 24, I had never met a vegetarian before.
I'd certainly never had a serious discussion with one about the ethics of eating meat.
Of course, I never really had a proper discussion about the ethics of eating meat.
I didn't regard the treatment of animals as a serious political issue.
At that time, I didn't consider the treatment of animals to be an important political issue.
That all changed when, by chance, I had lunch with a Canadian philosophy student, also in Oxford, Richard Keshen.
Then, by chance, I completely changed my mind. I had lunch with Richard Keschen, who was from Canada and was studying philosophy at Oxford University like me.
Here I am with him, many years later.
This photo was taken by me and Richard a long time later.
When we had to choose what to eat, there was either spaghetti with a sauce on top of it, or a plate of salad. Richard asked if the sauce on the spaghetti had meat in it, and when he was told that it did, he took the salad. I took the spaghetti, I
had to choose between spaghetti or salad on the menu. Richard asked the waiter if there was meat in spaghetti sauce. I chose spaghetti.
but then I asked him why he was avoiding meat, he told me that he was a vegetarian because he didn't think it was right to treat animals the way they were treated before being turned into meat.
Out of curiosity, I asked Richard why he didn't eat meat. Richard explained that he's a vegetarian, because he doesn't think it's the right way for animals to get to the table.
I knew, of course, that the animals I had been eating all my life were slaughtered, but I thought that until that day, they had good lives, grazing out in the fields.
I knew that the meat came from slaughter of course, but I thought I would live carefree in the grass until slaughtered.
No, Richard told me, that isn't true. Many animals were no longer outside, they were confined inside buildings, very crowded, all to make them grow faster, and to produce meat more cheaply.
That's not the case, Richard said, noting that animals are now bred to produce cheap meat quickly in dense facilities rather than outdoors.
I wasn't sure whether to believe this, so I began investigating modern farming methods.
I found that Richard had not exaggerated at all. It was much worse than I had imagined.
I wasn't sure whether to believe this or not, so I looked into modern livestock farming myself. Richard wasn't exaggerating, the reality was more serious than he had imagined.
Let me show you, just four slides, of how most of the animals people eat nowadays live.
I'm going to show you how livestock live these days in four slides.
First, veal calves, kept all their lives in these wooden stalls, unable to walk or even turn around.
First, the meat veal.
They spend their whole lives in a wooden barn like this, unable to walk or turn around.
Next, pigs in a huge shed, highly intelligent animals in a prison with nothing to do all day
and then have a large pig barn.
Pigs, which are highly intelligent animals, do nothing all day and live in prison-like places.
Now, egg-laying hens crammed into small wire cages, with no opportunity to build a nest, or spread their wings even, or walk freely.
This time it's a laying hen.
They don't even get the chance to build nests, spread their wings, or walk freely in small cages.
And then chickens raised for meat which Professor John Webster, the founder of one of the world's
major centers for the study of farm animal welfare, has described as "The single most severe, systematic example of man's inhumanity to another sentient animal."
And broilers. Professor John Webster, who founded the world-famous Farm Animal Welfare Institute for this breeding method, described it as "the most horrific and systematic inhumanity that humans do to sentient beings other than humans."
Learning how these animals which I was eating had lived led me to think about the ethics of how we treat animals
;
and then, 5 years later, to the publication of Animal Liberation which you see here in its first edition, published in 1975.
And 5 years later, <Animal Liberation> was published. The photo is from the first edition published in 1975.
In that book I called for an end to "speciesism" which I described like this:
I claim to be an end to "kind of discrimination, Caution" in the book and fell within the definition, as you can see on the screen.
The term is intended to suggest a parallel
between the attitudes of humans to animals, and the other "isms" that we now reject,
such as racism and sexism.
Speciesism is a term implying that human attitudes toward animals are no different from ism, which is unacceptable in modern society, such as racism and sexism.
In each of these cases, there is a group that has power over others, and wants to use them and control them.
Such '○○ Caution'A characteristic of these groups is that one group exploits and manipulates another group through a position of superiority.
To justify this, the dominant group develops an ideology which it believes gives it a right to dominate.
And we advocate a new ideology to give ourselves the right to justify it.
In the Western tradition, for instance, people of African descent were seen as inferior, needing to be "saved" by being made Christians, while women were regarded as "the weaker sex" and in need of the protection and care of males.
Western tradition, for example, held that Africans were inferior and therefore needed to be saved by becoming Christians, while women were the weaker gender and therefore deserved the protection and care of men.
With animals, there was an explicit appeal to the Bible with its account of God giving us dominion over the animals, and also of course there were false ideas, from philosophers like Descartes and Kant, suggesting either than animals are not conscious and do not feel pain, or that because they are not self-conscious, they are merely means to our ends, and not ends in themselves.
In the case of recognition of animals, along with the anecdote that God gave humans dominion over animals in the Bible, philosophers such as Descartes and Kant said that 'animals are not aware and feel no pain' or 'because they are not aware, they exist for humans'. It was caused by wrong ideas such as
In contrast to these false defenses of our right to use animals, I proposed the principle of equal consideration of similar interests.
I am opposed to the human misuse of animals and proposed that the principle of equal consideration should be applied to all things.
and I argued that, for everyone who is able to nourish themselves adequately without eating meat, a first step towards reducing the suffering of animals is to stop eating them.
I also argued that people who can fully nourish themselves without meat should stop consuming animal products as the first step to reducing animal suffering.
Now at first, this idea was ridiculed.
At first, my argument was ridiculed.
People assumed that if I was concerned about animals, I must be thinking of dogs or cats. Surely not the animals we eat.
People assumed that the animal I was talking about was obviously a dog or a cat, not a food animal.
Gradually, though, the idea that we should consider all animals spread, and now more and more people are becoming vegetarian and vegan.
However, the awareness that 'all animals should be treated equally' has gradually spread, and the number of vegetarians and vegans is also increasing.
Animal Liberation was published in many countries, including of course South Korea.
Animal Liberation has been published in many countries. Of course, it was also published in Korea.
In addition, in many countries, especially in the European Union, but also in some parts of the United States, like California, that banned some of the ways of keeping animals that I showed a moment ago.
In addition, many countries, including the European Union, and some areas in the United States such as California have banned some of the breeding laws you saw earlier.
I was very pleased when President Moon instructed Korean government officials recently to consider a ban on eating dogs.
I was very pleased when President Moon Jae-in recently expressed his intention to consider a ban on eating dogs.
I am sure that many of you already know that if there is one bad thing people in Western countries are likely to believe about Koreans, it is that they eat dogs.
As you may know, if there is one thing that the Western world doesn't like about Korea, it's that Koreans eat dogs.
Of course, I know that not all Koreans eat dogs, and as I have already said, I object not only to eating dogs, but to eating cows, pigs, and chickens too.
Of course, I know that not all Koreans eat dogs. Also, as I said earlier, I am against eating not only dogs, but also cows, pigs and chickens.
Nevertheless, photos like this damage the reputation of the whole country among dog-lovers, of whom there are millions worldwide.
However, these photos also damage Korea's national reputation among many dog owners around the world.
I can draw a lesson from my experience with trying to change people's ideas about animals: if you think something is wrong, and needs to be changed, don't give up just because people scoff at you!
The lesson I've learned from trying to change our perception of animals is that
if
you think something's wrong and needs to be changed,
don't give up even if
you get
ridiculed.
Try harder to get them to see it as you see it.
I need to work harder so that others can feel what I feel.
Talk to others about it, get more information, join with other people who think like you,
and always be calm and reasonable.
Share with others, get more information, interact with like-minded people, be calm and rational.
In the long run, that is the best way to persuade people.
In the long run, this is the best way to persuade others.
There are, of course, many other problems in the world today.
Of course, there are countless other problems in today's world.
We are still battling the Covid-19 pandemic, but now that we have seen how disastrous such pandemics can be, we should focus on reducing the risk of the next pandemic, which could be even worse.
Of course, Corona isn't over yet, but now that we know how severe the pandemic can be, we need to focus on preventing the next pandemic that could be worse than now.
The Centers for Disease Control in the US says that 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals, and the biggest risk is from the intensive farms that, as we have seen, confine tens of thousands of animals in a single shed, thus creating the ideal conditions for the creation and spread of new viruses which will be carried by the farm laborers from the animals to the whole world.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three out of four new infectious diseases are zoonotic infectious diseases originating from animals, and the greatest risk is that tens of thousands of livestock are intensively raised in one barn, as seen before, and are optimal for the emergence and spread of new viruses. The environment is formed and it spreads from animals to farm workers all over the world.
Let's stop these farms. They are cruel, wasteful, and dangerous.
We need to stop these farms. It's cruel, exhausting, and dangerous.
Raising so many animals for food also makes a big contribution to climate change, which is probably the gravest problem the world faces today, even more serious than the pandemic.
Large-scale animal breeding is a powerful factor in climate change, which is worse than a pandemic and is the planet's biggest problem, climate
change is already here, causing intense heat and drought, wildfires, hurricanes, rising sea levels, and floods.
Climate change is already happening, and this is making us more likely to experience heat waves, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, sea level rise, floods, and more.
This will only get worse over our children's lifetimes, and our grandchildren's lifetimes.
The damage will be exacerbated in the lives of our children and grandchildren.
Every political leader, but especially those of industrialized nations, needs to take strong action to mitigate the damage.
All political leaders, especially those in industrialized countries, will need to take strong measures to reduce the damage.
But to do that, the electorate also needs to be enlightened.
But for that to happen, voters must also be aware.
The people who will suffer most from climate change are not yet born, and so they cannot vote in the next round of elections.
In fact, those who will be most affected by climate change are not yet born. So I can't vote in the next election.
Yet their interests should get as much weight, discounting only for uncertainty, as we give to the present adult generation, who can vote.
Even so, their interests, even taking into account uncertainty, must be as important as those of older voters today.
For that to be possible we must have enlightened voters, who will only support politicians if they take a long-term view.
To make this possible, we need an awake voter who only supports long-term visionary politicians.
Finally, all of us fortunate enough to live comfortable lives with enough money to meet our needs should think about those who, through no fault of their own, are among the approximately 800 million people living in extreme poverty, which the World Bank defines as less than US $2 a day.
Finally, people like us who are fortunate enough to meet their needs and lead a comfortable and prosperous life should think of the 800 million people who are at fault as defined by the World Bank as 'the poorest living on less than $2 a day'
Only 26 years ago, South Korea was itself receiving development aid.
Just 26 years ago, Korea was a recipient of international aid.
Today it is a donor, though not yet an especially generous one.
Today, Korea has become a donor, but it is still far from merciful.
Here is a graph. You can see that South Korea's Official Development Assistance comes to only 0.15% of its Gross Domestic Income, compared with the UN target of 0.7%.
If you look at the graph here, Korea's official development aid amounted to 0.15% of its gross domestic product, well below the UN target of 0.7%.
Admittedly, there are other countries, wealthier than South Korea, that give hardly any more than South Korea, and both the United States and Australia are in that category.
Of course, there are countries that are wealthier than Korea, but only provide aid at the Korean level. This includes the US where I live and Australia, my home country.
But I hope that, now that South Korea is so prominent, all over the world, in fields such as music, film and television, it will also become more generous, and, by getting closer to that UN target, set a better example.
But now that Korea has become world-famous in fields such as music, film, and drama, I hope that it will become a more merciful donor and serve as a good example of approaching the UN target.
Meanwhile, however, you do not have to wait for your government to do the right thing.
That doesn't mean we have to wait for the government to do the right thing.
You can give yourself. Surely, you don't want to be parasites!
You can give yourself. Of course, no one wants to become a parasite, right?
To help people sort out the best charities to give to, I founded a charity, called The Life You Can Save.
To make it easy for people to choose the best charity, I set up a charity called The Life You Can Save.
Take a look at our website, thelifeyoucansave.org.
The screen you see now is our homepage.
We are trying to direct money to the most effective charities, independently assessed, working to reduce extreme poverty in the world's least developed countries.
Our organization helps the charities that are considered the best in the world's poorest countries' efforts to combat extreme poverty.
And you can find details about them on our website.
Please refer to the website for more details.
What then would I like you to take away from this short talk?
So, what can you learn from this short talk today?
First, to think for yourself, and to use your precious ability to reason to form your own ideas.
Think for yourself first, and use these precious skills to form your own opinion.
don't just follow the crowd, or agree with whatever is fashionable or popular.
Don't just get carried away by the crowd or just try to follow the fad or trend.
Ask yourself: is it right? And if it is, then make that part of the way you live. Bring your values and your lifestyle into harmony.
Ask yourself if it's right, and if so, make it a part of your life. Try to align your values with your life.
Second, broaden your horizons. Don't think only about yourself,
second, broaden your view of the world. Don't think only of yourself,
or your family and friends, or even your fellow Koreans, your fellow citizens, and your fellow-humans
.
but about the whole world. Not just the present world, but the future of this world, for the next century, of our planet and everything on it, for this century and centuries to come.
Thinking of not only the present but also the future of all of us, the future of the earth and all living things, and the 21st century and the centuries to come,
And of course for all sentient beings on it.
Especially think of all sentient beings on this earth.
Join with others to vote for political leaders who also have this enlightened vision.
Connect with others and vote for a political leader with this visionary vision.
Thank you
Gam-Sa-Ham-Mi-Da
.
■Professor Peter Singer Q&A
Q: Please say hello to the viewers.
Hi everyone. I hope you enjoyed the little lecture. And I look forward to hearing questions from you.
Nice to meet you all. I hope you enjoyed my lecture. We look forward to your questions.
Q: What can individuals do to ensure that the lifestyle they want is a major topic of discussion in politics?
Well the first thing that the individual should do is they should live in accordance with their values and what they believe to be right.
The first thing an individual should do is live a life that is consistent with his values and what he thinks is right.
And they should make those choices in their lifestyles.
And based on that, you have to decide your own lifestyle.
So if they're with me that the treatment of animals today is serious wrong, don't purchase those products, don't consume those products. Try to boycott them.
For example, if, like me, you feel that the way animals are being treated today is very wrong, try boycotting the product by not buying it and not consuming it.
Because the only way those industries exist is because people keep buying their products.
Those industries still exist because someone keeps buying them.
But beyond that try to have an impact on your government as well.
But think of other ways you can influence government.
As I mentioned, in some nations, laws have been passed not to produce a perfect system but at least to remove some of the worst kinds of suffering of factory farmed animals.
As mentioned earlier, legislation in some countries has eliminated, if not perfect, some of the worst sufferings of factory-fed animals.
So talk to your political representatives about that. And try to get them to change.
Let the politicians you represent know this too. And get politicians to change their minds.
And join with others to build support for changing the laws so they cannot treat animals as badly as they have up to now.
Let's work together to change the law so that animals are not treated as unfairly as they have been.
Q: How to protect your thoughts in a situation where you are constantly being refuted, what is the know-how to protect your beliefs?
Well, I think there are some ways in which you can be encouraged, especially now that we have the internet, it's easier to reach other people who think, like you do.
It's easier these days to give your opinion. Especially thanks to the internet, it's easy to find like-minded people.
When I first started thinking about animals and became a vegetarian, the only people I knew were a handful of people in Oxford, Richard Keishon, and his wife, and then a couple of friends of theirs.
When I first thought about animals and became vegetarian, the only vegetarians I knew were Richard, his wife, and a few of their friends.
And there was eventually we had a group of half a dozen people, and then we slowly got into contact with others.
Then, somehow, we became six people, and after that, I got to know more vegetarians.
But today with the internet, there's hardly any way of thinking that doesn't have some supporters.
But today there is the Internet, and there are people who support any idea.
And some of those ways of thinking, of course, are really bad ways of thinking. But if you thought things through, and you've come to conclusions about what is a really good thing to do, then find others who will agree with you and talk to them. That's very encouraging
Of course, some of this is very wrong. But, after much deliberation, when you've come to a conclusion about what's right, find someone who agrees with you and talk to them. It can be said that it is very encouraging.
And if other people are scoffing at you, don't let that discourage you to join with the other people who think like you do.
If someone makes fun of you, don't be discouraged and join forces with like-minded people.
Be sure that your reasoning is sound. And gradually, then you can make progress.
As you try to keep my opinions always logical, you'll see progress little by little.
And you can hope that you are building a larger movement that will produce change in the right direction, joining with other people who think in that way.
Think of my efforts as the foundation of a great movement leading to right change, and have hope with like-minded people.
And I think that's the best way to try to make progress.
In my opinion, this is the best way to make a difference.
I can't guarantee that every idea will succeed. I don't even know that every idea is going to be a good one among people who are listening to this now.
There is no guarantee that every idea will get support. You too may take the same idea differently.
But I think if your ideas are good ones, you will certainly find other people who will join you in supporting them and trying to spread them.
But if my idea is solid, I'm sure I'll find people to support it and spread the word.
Q: I think you need to have the ability to think in order to live with conviction as an awake individual. What should an individual do to improve their thinking ability?
Oh, well, I would say you could try studying philosophy, I think philosophy is the subject perhaps, that focuses particularly on thinking skills, on learning to argue, on thinking well, and it's very useful, even if you don't plan to go into philosophy.
Philosophy studies can help. In particular, you can develop thinking and logic skills, which will be very useful skills even if you are not a philosopher.
There are many things in which learning to think clearly is useful. And I believe studying philosophy is a good way to do that.
Learning to think clearly can help in many ways. I don't think there is anything more than philosophy to develop this ability.
And by studying philosophy here, I don't mean just learning the history of philosophy, I mean, courses that really engage you in arguing about issues and discussing them.
It means not just studying the history of philosophy, but studying fields that will interest you in debate and debate.
That's the kind of philosophy that I teach. I try to encourage my students to argue with me, I always give them readings that disagree with my views.
This is the philosophy I teach. I encourage my students to argue with me and hand out references that differ from me.
And then they can, some of them will agree with those readings, but they can sort it out.
Some students may decide that the content of the material is more correct, but that is entirely up to the students.
And if you can't do that, then, get into other discussions of things with your friends, or perhaps you have debating societies where you can speak and learn to argue and reason. And do that in writing as well.
If this is not possible, discuss it with your friends. Or take part in a discussion group, etc. to learn to argue and reason verbally. Try this in writing.
I think it's really important to be thinking clearly.
I think it is very important to think clearly.
There's such a lot of resources online today also. Look at those forums that have a range of ideas, and that discussing controversial ideas freely and openly.
There are lots of resources online. If you go to an internet community, you can have a wide variety of opinions and you can discuss controversial opinions freely and openly.
I think that's the best way to practice your abilities to reason and to think for yourself.
The Internet is the best medium for reasoning and developing the power to think for yourself.
Q: What are the ethical questions we must address in a time of great transition such as the corona pandemic?
Well, there are a lot of ethical questions because of these emergencies.
There are many ethical issues in the world right now with many emergencies we are all familiar with.
So firstly, I as I said, I think climate change is an enormously serious problem. And there are many ethical issues raised by climate change.
First of all, as I said earlier, climate change is an incredibly serious problem. Climate change has created a number of ethical issues.
We can ask questions about, are we doing enough to prevent climate catastrophe? Think about other people in more dire situations than we are perhaps.
Ask yourself whether we are doing enough to prevent a climate catastrophe, or are we thinking about those in need?
Think about people living in low lying Pacific Islands, where their homeland will be inundated, flooded by rising sea levels.
Think of the people of the Pacific low-lying islands at risk of flooding their country from rising sea levels.
Think of people who are impoverished and have to rely on the rainfall to grow a crop that they can eat, and rainfall patterns could change.
Think about the damage to people who live in poverty and depend on rain to grow their crops, and so on if climate change changes rainfall patterns.
So think about what the ethics are of our situation. If we are relatively affluent, relatively safe, middle-class people, think about what we owe to those who are less fortunate.
Think about your situation from an ethical point of view. If you're a relatively wealthy and safe middle-class person, take a look around your less fortunate neighbors.
And also, of course, as I said, think about what we owe to future generations.
Think about the debt we owe to future generations.
Think how we should treat other animals, sentient beings, who cannot move away when climates change.
Also think about the sentient beings who are unable to escape the effects of climate change.
And also with regard to the pandemics. Think about the risks for the future, try to take account of risk and to reduce risk as much as we can.
Think about the damage a pandemic will cause and think about how to minimize it as much as possible.
And always try to think about others. Try to think about people less fortunate than we are.
And always think of others. We need to be able to think of people who have a harder time than us.
People who are less able to protect themselves from the problems that the world faces today.
Think especially of those who are vulnerable to the problems facing the world today.
Q: What is the first thing that needs to be changed in order to coexist together as a global community?
Well, we certainly do have to take account of our environment. And we have not, in general been careful and respectful of our environment.
Obviously we have to think about the environment. So far, I don't think there has been any respect for the environment in general.
So you mentioned biodiversity
,
we are on the edge of another great wave of extinctions, this time caused by human beings, caused by the fact that we are the dominant beings on the planet.
We are now on the brink of another mass extinction, this crisis because humans are the dominant race on Earth.
And we have created all of these animals, as I've described in factory farms, and they now become the dominant form of animal life on this planet to.
Humans have produced enormous numbers of livestock from the factory farming I mentioned earlier, and these animals have established themselves as major animal species on Earth.
So what is what is the most plentiful bird now on the planet? it's the chicken because of all of the tens of billions of chickens that we are raising.
Chickens are now the most numerous birds on Earth. Because tens of billions of them are raised for food.
And, of course, the cattle that we raise are another huge biomass.
And they produce a great amount of methane, which adds to global warming.
The cows we raise also boast a huge number. Cows emit significant amounts of methane, which exacerbates global warming.
And we are clearing jungles of the world , because of the demand for more meat, and therefore clearing land so that we can have more cattle that can graze on it,
try to meet again increased meat that demands more cattle to harvest the forest We are creating pastures for growing.
or to grow more soybeans, which most of which then also get fed to animals, so that we can produce more meat.
It is also increasing meat production by increasing the cultivation of soybeans, which are mostly made from cattle feed.
So we have not been careful about protecting the unique heritage that we got from our parents and grandparents and great grandparents.
We are not protecting the precious heritage of nature we inherited from our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents.
They handed down to us on Earth, they were still largely undamaged, from what it had been, but in our generation, just in my lifetime, because of the increasing industrialization.
The earth that our ancestors passed on to us has hardly been damaged, but in our generation, in fact, from my youth, industrialization has already begun to destroy it.
And of course, the increasing human population during this period, we have created a great deal of damage to the planet.
And as the population increased during this time, it caused tremendous damage to the global environment.
And we need to really develop an ethic of concern for the whole biosphere for all of the beings in it.
We must be ethically aware of all beings in the biosphere.
And we need to have that different, more green, if you like, more environmentally-friendly approach to the way we live on this planet.
We must also live greener than before, that is, more environmentally friendly.
<SBS D Forum 2021 Audience Question>
Q: Do you see animals and plants as completely different from each other?
Well, I do think that there's a very important difference between many animals and plants.
There are very important differences between most animals and plants.
I say many animals not all, because of course there's a great range of beings who biological scientists, zoologists will classify as animals.
The reason I say most animals is because there are so many different species that zoologists classify as 'animals'.
But I'm particularly concerned with those capable of feeling pain, those capable of having conscious experiences. And those are the animals when I talk about animals that I have in mind.
I focus on animals that feel pain and have conscious experiences. Usually when I talk about animals, I'm referring to these animals.
So which animals is that? Well, certainly all mammals and birds, I would say all vertebrate animals.
What kind of animals are there? Naturally, all mammals and birds are included. It can be said to be any vertebrate.
I think it's clear that fish can feel pain, and some invertebrates as well.
It is already clear that fish feel pain and some invertebrates also feel pain.
If you go online and Google octopus behavior, you get remarkable examples of an octopus solving new problems.
If you google octopus behavior, you'll find amazing examples of how octopuses solve problems.
And to do that they have to be intelligent beings, think they have to be conscious beings. So we can have conscious beings as invertebrates as well.
The fact that an octopus has this ability means that it is intelligent and conscious. Thus, invertebrates can also be conscious beings.
But maybe not every animal is a sentient being maybe an oyster, for instance, is not a sentient being, because it has a very simple nervous system, and it can't run away from pain anyway.
However, not all animals are sentient beings. In the case of oysters, the nervous system is simple, and it is not a sensory body because it cannot do anything when it feels pain.
So maybe in some respects, you might say, an oyster and a plant are on the same level if neither of them are conscious.
So, in a sense, oysters and plants are not conscious beings, so they can be classified as the same.
And to that extent, there isn't a sharp dividing line between all animals and all plants.
In other words, it can be difficult to clearly distinguish between animals and plants.
But I think the important dividing line is to think about which animals are actually subjects of experiences.
However, an important criterion to differentiate is whether or not you can 'experience' it.
So there is something going on, if you like, there's something that it is like to be an animal, there's something that it's like to be a chicken in a cage.
It refers to whether you are aware of life as an animal as an 'experience', that is, if you are a chicken, you are aware of being trapped in a chicken coop as an experience.
And that's a bad thing for that animal. And that's what really matters.
Being aware of experience is a terrible thing for that animal. This is the most important thing.
Whereas I don't think for a cabbage, there is something that is like to be a cabbage because I don't think a cabbage can actually have any experiences.
On the other hand, there will be no 'experience as a cabbage' in the case of Chinese cabbage. It is questionable whether it is an experience in the first place.
Q: Some people are vegan for their health, but others insist on being vegan. Is there anything you want to say?
Well, I certainly want more people to become vegan. I think that is the best way of not contributing to animal suffering.
Of course, I want more people to become vegetarians. I think being vegetarian is the best way to avoid being complicit in the suffering of animals.
Also, the best way to slow climate change, or one important way of slowing climate change. And, as I've said, reducing the risks of pandemics.
And it's the best way to slow climate change, at least a very important way. As mentioned earlier, the risk of a pandemic can also be reduced.
And I think it is true that you will probably live a healthier and longer life. But I don't think we can actually force people to do this. I think we have to do it by persuasion.
I think it's true that you can live longer and healthier if you eat a vegetarian diet. But it is impossible by force. You have to persuade.
I don't think that any country in the world is ready for prohibiting the eating of animal products.
In my opinion, no country in the world is yet ready to ban animal products.
What we need to do is to make steady progress towards that goal. And I hope in some future decades, maybe we will get there.
Our job is to make steady progress toward achieving this goal. Hopefully, it will be achieved in a few decades.
But I always think that giving reasons and arguments, showing people what it's like for animals in factory farms, explaining the contribution that the livestock industry makes to climate change, and to increasing the risks of pandemics.
To provide an argument, inform the realities of factory farms, and the fact that livestock is triggering climate change and pandemic outbreaks,
And of course, talking about personal health as well. They are the best ways to persuade people to reduce their animal consumption, and even to end it completely.
Adding to this, explaining the health effects, etc. would be the most effective way to persuade people to eat less or completely stop eating animal products.
Q: When it comes to companion animals, what would the ideal coexistence of humans and animals look like?
I'd prefer the word companion animal to pets. The idea of a pet seems to me to suggest something that is inferior almost like a toy.
Personally, I prefer pets to pets. Pets sound like toys, inferior to humans.
But a companion animal can be a life companion just as we may have our partners as life companions as part of the family, and of course, our children.
In contrast, pets can be viewed as life companions and family members, just like spouses and children.
So a companion animal can be part of the family, If you really are thinking of the interests of that animal. As if the animal were a family member.
When you think of your pet as a true family member, it becomes a family.
Of course, it depends on having suitable conditions for that animal. If you live in an apartment, and you and the rest of the family go out to work all day, and only come home in the evening, I think it's not good to have a dog under those conditions.
Of course, an environment suitable for pets must be a prerequisite. If you live in an apartment and the whole family goes to work during the day and comes home at night, I don't think it's a good environment to raise a dog.
Dogs need company, they need to be out and get exercise. And if you can't be with your dog for most of the day, and the dog is alone, that's not a good life.
Dogs should be with people and should go out for walks. Sending your canine companion and not as a day, most canine companion can not live a good life
Maybe if you have enough space for more than one dog, it can certainly be better because dogs are social animals.
Also, dogs are social animals, so if you have enough space, I think it's better to keep more than one.
So I would say it depends entirely on the circumstances, on the kind of life you can give your companion animal.
In summary, what kind of life you can give your pets is entirely important.
The other thing that I would say is, when it comes to cats, it's really difficult because if you allow them to go outside, nearly all cats will kill small birds and maybe small animals that they can find.
Cats are a little different. If you let them go outside, you will certainly harm small birds or animals.
People always say, you know, my cat wouldn't kill a bird. But studies have shown that nearly all of them do. They are by nature hunters, and yet to keep them inside all day is also perhaps not a good life for them.
Cat owners say 'my kid won't,' but studies have shown that almost all cats do. They are born with the instincts of a hunter. That doesn't mean your cat will have a good life if it's indoors all day.
Q: What is Professor Peter Singer's daily diet like?
Yes, I have pretty much the same thing for breakfast every day. I have muesli which I put together myself from rolled oats and nuts and dried fruits and various toasted seeds.
I eat the same food for breakfast almost every day. I eat my own muesli made from oats, nuts, dried fruits and roasted seeds.
And I eat that with some fresh fruit and some nondairy milk. So soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, whatever. I happen to like at that particular time.
Served with fresh fruit and non-dairy milk. Soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, etc. It varies from time to time.
For lunch, in winter, I'm likely to have some soup, you know, maybe a bean soup or something like that, and, and some bread. In summer perhaps I'm more likely to have a salad.
For lunch, I enjoy soup in winter. I eat bean soup with bread. Salad is often eaten in summer.
And for dinner. My wife and I cook different things at different times. My wife mostly cooks in the European cuisine.
In the evening, my wife and I cook different food from time to time. My wife cooks mainly European food.
But after I became vegetarian, I started exploring non-European cuisines because I think often they're much better without meat.
After I became a vegetarian, I started looking for non-European food. I think non-European food is usually better for dishes without meat.
So I cook Asian style of various kinds. I cook Indian food, I cook Chinese food, particularly I like sachajuan food because I like something spicy.
So, I eat a lot of Asian food. I like to eat Indian and Chinese food, especially Sichuan food because I like spicy food.
And of course, the Korean cuisine is also spicy so sometimes I cook that as well.
Korean food is also spicy, so I eat it occasionally.
I make dishes with vegetables and with tofu. And eat them with noodles or with rice. I think there's plenty of really good vegan food, especially coming from Asian cuisines.
It is cooked with vegetables and tofu and eaten with noodles or rice. Asian food seems to be good for vegan eating.
Q: Is there any other way for individuals to respect animal rights other than vegetarian?
So the ways to protect animals apart from choosing what you eat, are to try to influence the legislation in your country, and of course, the attitudes as well.
The only way to protect animals is to influence laws and public opinion, except by not eating them.
But it's important to have political leaders who are sympathetic to animals, who care about animals, and who show that by being prepared to make this an issue on which they legislate.
It is also important to have a political leader who loves and values animals and is committed to enacting animal protection.
As I said, I think the European Union is probably a model here. They've got many laws and initiatives for animals.
As I said earlier, the European Union is a good example. There are several laws and policies for animals.
I've mentioned some of those relating to factory farming. But they also, for example, prohibit the testing of cosmetics on animals. And they have better regulations for the use of animals in laboratories,
in research than many other countries do.
Of these, I mentioned a few things related to factory breeding. In addition, there are laws that prohibit animal testing of cosmetics, and the use of animals in laboratories for research purposes is more regulated than other countries.
So I would say look at the situation in your own country. Think yourself, how can this be improved? And can I talk to my political representatives in order to improve it
Take a look at the situation in your country and think about how you can improve it and how you can communicate with them.
Well, I want to say that it's been a pleasure talking to you.
I'm very glad that I have many readers and followers in Korea.
It was so nice to be with you today.
I am glad that there are many readers and fans in Korea.
And I hope that if I've given you something to think about, you will think about it, you'll talk to your friends, and act on it.
I hope that my lecture today has given you something to think about, and I hope you can share your thoughts with your acquaintances and put them into practice.
And I want to thank everybody who's been listening Game sa Hamidah.
It's been my pleasure to talk to you.
Thank you to everyone who listened to my lecture today.
thank you.
It was a pleasure working with you.