Bridgette talks about hunting in her post, and asks whether it is ethical to kill an animal if it is done painlessly. This goes back to Kaldewaij's argument about the harm of death. As I have said before on my blog, I don't think animals (or humans) are harmed by death, but I do think it is still unethical to kill an animal (or a human) unless there is a good reason to do so. A "good reason" would usually be in the animal's best interest (euthanasia) or self defense (an animal is attacking a human). I would not qualify hunting for food as a "good reason". Hunting for food is still hunting for sport- you're just being resourceful of what's left. It is not ethical to kill a human and eat his or her flesh except for maybe in extreme circumstances, because you don't need to eat human flesh in order to eat. You can get food from many other places. Similarly, it is not ethical to kill an animal for food because you don't need to get your food from animals. I am convinced that hunting is always done as a sport; people wouldn't do it if they didn't find it fun. I think people get a thrill out of killing something without being held morally responsible for it. Killing is power, and people like to feel powerful. Our culture is strangely fixated with killing and violence. It is in our everyday language; we use violent or rape imagery to convey an achievement ("We killed the opposing football team" or "I raped that math test"). Because this glorification of violence is so embedded in our culture, hunting might seem like no big deal, but if you analyze the arguments hunters give for what they do, it is clear that there is no moral justification for the sport of hunting.
Question: Is there another justification for hunting that I have missed?
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