THE GREAT DIVIDE - MEAT: A Benign Extravagance - page 277

much as animal suffering is the principal concern that motivates the animal welfare
movement, this development should be of central interest to its adherents. 41

It seems that Shriver, a lifelong vegetarian, is serious and not just aiming to put Peter
Singer on the spot, though that is what he does by steering Singer's ship so close to the
rocks of carnivory. Since the ability to suffer is the crux of Singer's argument against killing
animals, the factory farming of brain-dead chickens or pigs ought to be morally acceptable.
But by the same token, unless you are a speciesist, the factory farming of brain-dead hu-
mans would be equally acceptable. Anyone for ethical cannibalism? Singer was quoted in
the New Scientist as saying that 'his would be a moot objection if pain-free livestock could
be engineered', which presumably means that he is not quite sure what he thinks. 42
Are we witnessing the first signs of a convergence of interests between factory farming,
veganism and genetic engineering? Singer's support for lab-cultured meat and ambivalence
about pain-free factory farming are not only a reflection of his concern for the welfare of
animals. In recent years he has increasingly focussed on biotechnologies, writing articles
with titles such as 'Shopping at the Genetic Supermarket', in which he suggests that access
to genetic enhancement and 'designer babies' should be allocated by the state rather than
through a free market. 43 Singer is not a card-carrying transhumanist (the term for someone
who favours replacing humans with a superior design of intelligent being through a com-
bination of genetic engineering, cybernetics and nanotech). But he is listed on the World
Transhumanist Association website as 'One of the most influential philosophers among
transhumanists, and he is a defender of access to human enhancement'. 44
Singer's interest in biotechnology and human enhancement are not an inevitable out-
come of his vegan and antispeciesist views, but the two are congenial bedfellows. On the
other hand, transhumanists and others who take an interest in more extreme forms of bioen-
gineering have a very obvious motive for adopting an anti-speciesist position. If genetic
manipulation, stem cell technology, cosmetic surgery and robotics continue to advance at
an exponential rate it may not be long before scientists have the ability to create semi-hu-
man life forms. The growing number of people who are enthusiastic about creating cy-
borgs, chimeras and similar beings need to be sure that humans do not claim the right to eat
or kill them - and if this protection is afforded to cyborgs, then consistency dictates that it
should be extended to all other sentient species. The brave new world of the transhumanist,
unless it is to be red in tooth and claw, requires the veganization of human relations with
nature - and to be fully consistent, the veganization of nature in its entirety.
Thus it is that an increasing number of transhumanists are becoming vegans, while
some vegans, like Singer, are flirting with transhumanism. 45 The vegan transhuman tend-
ency is also influenced by Buddhist ideas, emanating from sources such as the Buddhist
Transhumanist Association and James Hughes, author of the topic Citizen Cyborg . 46

But