The title is presumptuous and does not encourage a healthy debate.
Historically, etymologically, are bivalves vegan? No, they are obviously not. But are you vegan because you are a linguist? Or are you vegan because you want to minimise the harm that you cause while continuing to live and thrive as a moral person? Limiting veganism to simplistic, poorly considered ideas such as what kingdom of organism they fall into is lazy and ill-considered. Like every other word in the English language, veganism is not bound to its original meaning.
I researched bivalves some time ago and decided, personally, that there just wasn’t enough information (that I could interpret) available to me to determine whether they experienced pain, suffering, or any form of higher thought process. I decided that I would refrain from eating bivalves, as I just wasn’t sure.
However, there are plants out there that are more sophisticated, and seemingly more intelligent, than organisms in the Animalia kingdom (e.g. most jellyfish).
I don’t eat bivalves because I am unsure. I don’t eat jellyfish because they taste like nothing. I don’t eat honey, because bees clearly have some level of sentience. Idgaf about what some person in 1944 decided as the meaning of the word ‘vegan’ (though I respect the intent).
Many of the comments in this thread are criticising solely on the etymological basis of the word ‘vegan’ rather than the actual ethical consideration of the issue.
The question for these people, ‘are you vegan because you genuinely care about the impact you have, or do you care more about rigid definitions with little consideration of the actual meaning?’
The title is presumptuous and does not encourage a healthy debate.
Historically, etymologically, are bivalves vegan? No, they are obviously not. But are you vegan because you are a linguist? Or are you vegan because you want to minimise the harm that you cause while continuing to live and thrive as a moral person? Limiting veganism to simplistic, poorly considered ideas such as what kingdom of organism they fall into is lazy and ill-considered. Like every other word in the English language, veganism is not bound to its original meaning.
I researched bivalves some time ago and decided, personally, that there just wasn’t enough information (that I could interpret) available to me to determine whether they experienced pain, suffering, or any form of higher thought process. I decided that I would refrain from eating bivalves, as I just wasn’t sure.
However, there are plants out there that are more sophisticated, and seemingly more intelligent, than organisms in the Animalia kingdom (e.g. most jellyfish).
I don’t eat bivalves because I am unsure. I don’t eat jellyfish because they taste like nothing. I don’t eat honey, because bees clearly have some level of sentience. Idgaf about what some person in 1944 decided as the meaning of the word ‘vegan’ (though I respect the intent).
Many of the comments in this thread are criticising solely on the etymological basis of the word ‘vegan’ rather than the actual ethical consideration of the issue.
The question for these people, ‘are you vegan because you genuinely care about the impact you have, or do you care more about rigid definitions with little consideration of the actual meaning?’