Vegetarian debate featuring Heather Mills

Don't eat animals

09 Dec 2010

Speakers: Paul Levy, Julian Baggini, Robin Dunbar, Heather Mills, Peter Singer, Abbas Daneshvari, Jeremy O'Grady

This debate took place on the evening of 9th December 2010.

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Event information:

Steak and kidney pie. The Sunday roast. Mmm, delicious. In fact more than delicious, part of our way of life. Part of our common humanity, too, since eating meat is probably what allowed our brains to grow big enough to become fully human in the first place. So how could anyone be persuaded to give up eating it? Easy, say the vegetarians. Go to an abattoir. Listen to the shrieks, look at the fear in the eyes of the cow. Then go to a supermarket and look at the results of that bloodfest all neatly packaged up to disguise the cruelty and suffering that preceded the shrink wrap. No one with a streak of compassion, no one who calls themselves human could then stretch out their hand, plonk the slaughter in their shopping basket and feel they were doing right. Or could they? Come to the debate and find out.

Speakers for the motion

Abbas Daneshvari

Abbas Daneshvari is Professor of Art History at California State University.
Heather Mills

Campaigner and fundraiser for animal rights and other charitable causes
Peter Singer

Live via video link. Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and author of the 1975 book Animal Liberation

Chair

Jeremy O'Grady

Co-founder of Intelligence Squared and Editor-in-Chief of The Week

Speakers against the motion

Julian Baggini

Philosopher whose books include The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten: 100 Experiments For The Armchair Philosopher
Robin Dunbar

Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Oxford University and author of The Human Story and How Many Friends Does One Person Need?
Paul Levy

Food writer, broadcaster and editor of The Penguin Book of Food and Drink