Would it be morally acceptable to eat an alien?

[Orang Utan]

A really tasty alien.
Would you use the same criteria for eatability as you would for animals on this planet, or would it require a whole new set of ethics?

 

[8115]

A protazoa from Mars, maybe yes, ET no.

 

[8ball]

Same ethics, unless you're a speciesist.

 

[veracity]

Let's hope that aliens wouldn't find it morally acceptable to eat us!

 

[Orang Utan]

Same ethics, unless you're a speciesist.

Who isn't?

 

[Orang Utan]

Let's hope that aliens wouldn't find it morally acceptable to eat us!

There's a recent film and my rereading of the source book that has inspired this thread. I won't say what it is as it would be a massive spoiler

 

[spanglechick]

Are they endangered?

 

[8115]

Actually, I probably wouldn't be the first to eat an alien. What if they were poisonous? I'd feed them to my dog first

(Sorry.)

 

[8ball]

Who isn't?

Well, at least you freely admit to it.

 

[twentythreedom]

Are the aliens made of bacon?

 

[Orang Utan]

Are they endangered?

Well they would be if they were visitors to this planet, but i'm talking about us farming or hunting them on their own planets

 

[Orang Utan]

Well, at least you freely admit to it.

Don't you?

 

[Orang Utan]

Are the aliens made of bacon?

Let's say they have antennae made of bacon and sausage fingers

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

is an alien an animal?

 

[8ball]

Well they would be if they were visitors to this planet, but i'm talking about us farming or hunting them on their own planets

So are you talking about something like a cow that happened to have evolved on another planet and had suitable chirality, biochemistry etc. and was basically as dumb as our cows? I don't see why that would be more problematic than eating Earth cows.

 

[8ball]

Don't you?

No.

(though because we can't know what any sentient, self-conscious aliens would be like it might turn out to be more difficult than a simple 'No' in practice)

 

[twentythreedom]

Let's say they have antennae made of bacon and sausage fingers

Do they lay eggs?

 

[Orang Utan]

No.

(though because we can't know what any sentient, self-conscious aliens would be like it might turn out to be more difficult than a simple 'No' in practice)

Are you a vegetarian then? I don't see how you can be a meateater and not discriminate

 

[Orang Utan]

Do they lay eggs?

Scotch eggs

 

[Orang Utan]

is an alien an animal?

It's not human

 

[Orang Utan]

So are you talking about something like a cow that happened to have evolved on another planet and had suitable chirality, biochemistry etc. and was basically as dumb as our cows? I don't see why that would be more problematic than eating Earth cows.

What if they were cowlike but with humanoid anatomy?

 

[twentythreedom]

Scotch eggs

Now you're just being silly

 

[8ball]

What if they were cowlike but with humanoid anatomy?

Plenty of people choose not to eat things because they find them 'icky' but there would be no extra moral element.

It's a nice idea, though - I'm sure there must be a sci-fi story out there addressing that one...

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

It's not human

neither are vegetables.

 

[8ball]

Are you a vegetarian then? I don't see how you can be a meateater and not discriminate

I don't understand the second bit (I'm not a vegetarian by the way).

 

[Orang Utan]

Plenty of people choose not to eat things because they find them 'icky' but there would be no extra moral element.

It's a nice idea, though - I'm sure there must be a sci-fi story out there addressing that one...

Philip K Dick's first published story touches on this actually:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Lies_the_Wub
It's played for laughs though (at least that's how i read it)

 

[Orang Utan]

I don't understand the second bit (I'm not a vegetarian by the way).

You said about being speciesist. All meat eaters are surely?

 

[joustmaster]

 

[Orang Utan]

neither are vegetables.

I think we would end up classifying aliens as animals rather than vegetables, wouldn't you?

 

[8ball]

Philip K Dick's first published story touches on this actually:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Lies_the_Wub
It's played for laughs though (at least that's how i read it)

Almost the opposite in that case, though. The Wub is a sensitive intelligent creature of the kind most meat eaters would not want to eat even if it were native to this planet.