Animal rights have many facets and many interesting questions are regularly overlooked. Josh Milburn, in this book, discusses the ethics of feeding the various animals that share the Earth with us. From pets to animals living in our cities, to wildlife, Milburn analyses the rights and obligations that arise in the context of feeding animals and of using animals as food for other animals.

The book

“Lots of vegetarians and vegans keep dogs, cats, or other companion animals. But when it comes to the feeding of these animals, they face a dilemma. The received wisdom is that responsible guardians feed dogs and cats a meaty diet. But vegetarians and vegans, at least if they’re vegetarian and vegan for ethical reasons, will hesitate. Animals – perhaps animals not so different from their beloved companions – suffer and die to produce meat. And vegetarians and vegans think this is a problem; it’s such a problem for them that they no longer want to support it with their diet. If it’s wrong to support the meat industry to feed ourselves, is it perhaps wrong to support the meat industry to feed our companions? And what of the animals our companions might eat if left to roam?”

So begins Josh Milburn’s introduction to his 2022 book “Just Fodder. The Ethics of Feeding Animals.” This paragraph already demonstrates in a very condensed form all that we will be discussing today: the promise of the book, its style, its thoughtfulness, but also what I consider its main weakness.

The author

Josh Milburn is a moral and political philosopher, lecturer in Political Philosophy based in the division of International Relations, Politics and History in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Loughborough University. According to his homepage, he is interested in questions about human/animal relationships, food, liberal/libertarian political theory, and applied ethics. He has a podcast, Knowing Animals, and he is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Vegan Society. On his homepage, he adds:

“I live in York with my partner Becky and my dogs Hollie and Casper. Interests outside of academia include British wildlife, vegetable gardening, vegan food, reading, video games, board games, TV, and films.”

Just Fodder is his first book. He has a second one, Food, Justice, and Animals: Feeding the World Respectfully, which, according again to his homepage, will be published by Oxford University Press in 2023.

These credentials are important. Just Fodder is not just another academic philosophy book written by an early career philosopher in search of a topic. It is a work of passion, …

Read the full article which is published on Daily Philosophy (external link)