Page 33 - Effable Encounters

Proxy Predators

the moral aspect of suffering: the absolute law may read, ‘Do not
cause suffering’, but the gray area of non-pain-inducing suffering
remains open to interpretation.”
“Quite so,” nodded the master. “Euthanasia and refusing to suffer
a fool are not of the same order of gravity, yet both may find
temporal justification. However, as human beings we occupy a vast
terrain of moral ambiguity—even as regards the infliction of ultimate
pain: murder.”
“Ah, yes,” the disciple replied, feeling smugger. “The greater good
and the lesser evil. Mankind, in groups or as individuals, makes
choices to kill, torture, and incarcerate his fellow beings, all in the
name of some higher principle, like the end justifying the means.”
The two truth-seekers were almost tripped by a streaking blur
crossing their path at ankle height: felis domesticus en route to its
regular evening meal in a residential kitchen.
“Now, there is a lesson for us to consider,” said the master,
regaining his balance and dignity. “In the wild, this animal routinely
kills other creatures, perhaps thousands in its lifetime. Each victim
suffers an episode of mortal terror—of extended duration, if it is
captured by a female and brought to her kittens for use in her own
sort of lesson—then painfully dies. This body count cannot enter
into any karmic calculus, because the cat is driven purely by instinct.
The humans with whom the cat associates, of course, must bear the
onus for any unnecessary killing; to the extent a person can survive as
a vegetarian, it is his or her moral obligation to do so. That much is
obvious: the point of interest to us is the intersection of cat and man.
What is the right action for a surrogate cat-parent when it is time to
feed the feline?”
The disciple pondered in silence for a few moments before
recalling that the point of his guru’s method of peripatetic
philosophizing was to verbalize one’s thoughts as they occurred.
“Well,” he began, hating to equivocate but seeing no alternative.
“On one hand, making cats into vegetarians is a form of
mistreatment; they are physiological unsuited for a diet of greens,
grains, fruits, nuts and legumes. It could be argued, therefore, that the
right thing to do is never to adopt a carnivorous pet, as the
responsibility for killing must be shared by those in charge. Further,
on the principle of maximal reduction of pain and suffering, a case

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