Morality of eating your enemy?

[Sam Or I]

Intergalactic war breaks out, humans eventually find that there enemy is pretty tasty with butter and salt. Is it morally ok to eat a non human life form that you are at war with?

First, lets say it is another sentient being, is it ok to eat there fallen? (I am not talking about executing them for food, I am talking about fallen soldiers.)

Next, what about drone type soldiers, like the Arachnids from Star Ship Troopers, or the Raiders from nBSG? (The colonies get hungry for meat, and they go raider hunting.)

[loomer]

Completely fine. It is, afterall, the natural order of things as well.

[Darth Raptor]

The only ethical complications I can envision is a demand that persists after the war and soldiers shooting to kill when they really don't have to. Otherwise, who cares? You're killing them.

[Eulogy]

If you're going through the trouble of fighting a war, you're going to kill your enemy regardess. As far as I'm concerned, corpses feel no pain or any other kind of suffering; if the body can be eaten, it would be a waste of resources and meat (or veggies, as the case may be) not to eat the corpse and just let it rot. Eating it also has the obvious advantage of not having to dispose of bodies with more conventional ways.

Of course, if the alien was killed in a way as to make its body unsafe for consumption - it was slain with an NBC weapon for instance - it would have to be removed as you would for a human corpse.

So yeah. If the alien dies in battle, fine. Eat it. But don't go slaughtering POWs or civlians just because you like the other other white meat.

Besides, how are you supposed to gain stats and intrinsics if you don't eat corpses?

Now if the alien we're talking about isn't sapient (basic drones who only obey their programming or orders from their masters; IOW no free will whatsoever) then they are basicaly animals are far as hunting is concerned. I assume basic animal rights laws would cover hunting them for food, etc.

[Gil Hamilton]

Why don't humans eat other humans, so long as we are at war with them? There isn't any biological reason why not and human flesh apparently doesn't taste bad. Certainly plenty of cultures did so in the past, for various reasons. So the same question could be asked of different kinds of men who are at war. Answer why it is wrong for humans to eat other humans and chances are you'll have the same reason for why we shouldn't eat sapient aliens, regardless of whether or not we are at war with them.

Even if you don't buy into not desecrating corpses and that it is wrong to hunt and eat intelligent beings, chances are you are encouraging them to thing you are unthinking horrified savages and give them a justifiable reason to make you extinct. But I suppose when ETs do it to humans, suddenly it becomes wrong.

[Darth Raptor]

Why don't humans eat other humans, so long as we are at war with them? There isn't any biological reason why not and human flesh apparently doesn't taste bad.

Well, there is a risk of prion infections (think Mad Cow Disease) and Soylent Green does not a balanced diet make. But yeah, it's mostly cultural.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Well, primitive cultures were known to have eaten their enemies. Somewhere along the lines, we developed some abhorrence for it.

[Eulogy]

Why don't humans eat other humans, so long as we are at war with them? There isn't any biological reason why not and human flesh apparently doesn't taste bad. Certainly plenty of cultures did so in the past, for various reasons. So the same question could be asked of different kinds of men who are at war. Answer why it is wrong for humans to eat other humans and chances are you'll have the same reason for why we shouldn't eat sapient aliens, regardless of whether or not we are at war with them.

Even if you don't buy into not desecrating corpses and that it is wrong to hunt and eat intelligent beings, chances are you are encouraging them to thing you are unthinking horrified savages and give them a justifiable reason to make you extinct. But I suppose when ETs do it to humans, suddenly it becomes wrong.

First of all, while the ethics of cannibalism in and of itself is a discussion for another thread, there are very practical reasons not to engage in cannibalism:

1. The increased likelihood of disease. Pathogens have a much easier time infecting organisms that belong to the same species, due to the fact that there are much less barriers to overcome. Transmission between different species means having the proper adpatations, and that is less likely to happen. Then there's stuff like mad cow disease.

2. Eating other humans, among civilized nations, is a long standing taboo. Imagine the public whiplash that would occur if soldiers cooked guerrillas for breakfast.

3. Eating your own kind is not a good strategy for the surivival of your species, ESPECIALLY when there is plenty of other food available. Cannibalism tends to be a last resort; i. e. when there is no other food available and you will soon starve to death.

After all, killing one of your own for food removes a (potentially) productive member of society, plus there is the emotional duress involved. You don't want to eat your best friend.

You can argue that this doesn't apply when eating enemies, but there are still the other problems you'd have to deal with.

4. Cultures that engage in cannibalism typically do it as part of a ritual (for example, demonstrating superiority over the other tribe). They are still around, so they don't do this often enough that population or disease becomes an issue.

The thing is, cultures that cannibalize tend to be primitive, which helps fuel the taboo in more advanced civilizations.

Then there are cultures that teach that messing about with corpses is a sin. Your mileage will vary.

As for ET eating us, yeah. We don't like to be eaten. But come on, if we are at war with aliens, and we eat them, then obviously we aren't engaging in cannibalism. Besides, suppose that the aliens we're eating turn out not to be that intelligent after all. Or suppose that in the enemy's culture, eating your foe is a sign of superiority and dominance - thus, eating them might lead to the enemy respecting or even liking us (these are aliens, after all. They may not think like we do!).

[Bedlam]

To reverse the question if we were at war with an alien species which ate humans killed on the battle ground do you think it would make a peaceful settlement of the conflict less likely? Would there be more civilian support to continue the war once it gets back to them that the enemy will eat our dead?

[Zixinus]

I would say no, it should not be done if they don't do it to us, except if the army rations ran out that terribly. Eating your enemy that you would have shot anyway is still more morally justifiable then eating your own comrade.

However, if this is not the case, I would discourage it. Not just purely on princible but for some practical reasons: just because we can eat them, doesn't mean we can always fully digest them. Chances are they might have something that can cause a mayor epidemic in humans.

Furthermore, if they don't do it to us, then we shouldn't do it to them. Chances are that they might also be able to eat us but if they don't, then they might have a reason to.

[Bounty]

Apart from the problem that devouring your enemy makes a peace treaty pretty damn unlikely, and that it's too close to cannibalism for comfort, it's also terminally retarded; once your enemy finds out you're eating their dead, how long will it be before they start leaving poisoned corpses?

[Zablorg]

Apart from the problem that devouring your enemy makes a peace treaty pretty damn unlikely, and that it's too close to cannibalism for comfort, it's also terminally retarded; once your enemy finds out you're eating their dead, how long will it be before they start leaving poisoned corpses?

Then after the first wave of poisoned people, we stop eating their corpses?

[Lord of the Abyss]

Apart from the problem that devouring your enemy makes a peace treaty pretty damn unlikely,

I think this is a key point. While we can't be sure, them being aliens and all, the odds seem good that eating them will produce a great deal of hostility. So eating them would be irresponsible and therefore unethical, because it would likely make stopping the war harder.

[PeZook]

I think this is a key point. While we can't be sure, them being aliens and all, the odds seem good that eating them will produce a great deal of hostility. So eating them would be irresponsible and therefore unethical, because it would likely make stopping the war harder.

Furthermore, it will most likely cause persistent demand which will lead to fun stuff like mobsters murdering people and smuggling them out to Earth as a delicacy food. It that won't poison relations, I don't know what will.

And, of course, they may think just like us and decide that we're such horrible savages that nuking us into extinction is suddendly acceptable.

[Starglider]

I agree that this isn't a moral issue as such, it's a practical one, and the costs/risks of engaging in this practice far outweigh any possible benefits.

[PeZook]

Why? Perhaps eating their fallen enemy is considered perfectly normal among them, so they'd think nothing of it.

You want to be careful about projecting our own culture onto aliens - they don't need to think the same way as we do. Here, the disease argument probably applies to them too, so perhaps their culture is similar to ours for this, but it isn't a guarantee.

I think that if we're actually at war with them, we'll know such things.

[Zixinus]

Why? Perhaps eating their fallen enemy is considered perfectly normal among them, so they'd think nothing of it.

Unless we have something to base that assumption, its still riskier to eat them then to leave them alone.

[Ted C]

Intergalactic war breaks out, humans eventually find that there enemy is pretty tasty with butter and salt. Is it morally ok to eat a non human life form that you are at war with?

First, lets say it is another sentient being, is it ok to eat there fallen? (I am not talking about executing them for food, I am talking about fallen soldiers.)

Next, what about drone type soldiers, like the Arachnids from Star Ship Troopers, or the Raiders from nBSG? (The colonies get hungry for meat, and they go raider hunting.)

Are you going to get upset if they start eating your dead? If not, I guess there's no complaint.

The basic point, though, is that you should not treat the enemy dead with any less respect than you want to get for your own. If you think human bodies should be interred, cremated, or otherwise treated in particular ways, then you should make a reasonable effort to dispose of enemy bodies in ways that would be acceptable to them.

[loomer]

It may actually foster peace efforts if they have a particular culture. Didn't some African tribes believe that eating a strong warrior would honour their spirit? The same principle could apply.

"Jimbob, they're eating our kids again."
"They think our son is a great soldier! They honour us!"

Cue cheesy porn music and UN peace treaty.

[Ender]

Well honestly any interstellar war scenario is going to be to extinction (for reasons extensively covered on atomic rocket and other places). So "peace treaty" doesn't really factor into it. Cleanliness however does. Battlefields are not exactly the butcher shop, and you have a very limited amount of time after the animal dies to harvest the meat or is it no good. Weapons aren't eactly clean kill devices either - most killers like artillery and bombs leave you spread around quite a bit and everything that kills immediately drops the "food" in the dirt. Plus there is stuff like chemical and bio weapons that would leave anything around a bad idea to touch, let alone eat.

Basically, it may not be immoral, but is sure isn't sanitary.

[Themightytom]

The basic point, though, is that you should not treat the enemy dead with any less respect than you want to get for your own. If you think human bodies should be interred, cremated, or otherwise treated in particular ways, then you should make a reasonable effort to dispose of enemy bodies in ways that would be acceptable to them.

I think the native Americans had itt right. Kill, Apologize and Eat. have a general sense of respect for the life that is extinguished to prolong your own. Don't be a greedy ass though. now that we have a synthetic option i suppose we should be obligated to change our diet accordingly but i really don't trust our understanding nutrition enough to do so. Which is why i wouldn't trust our understanding of nutrition to eat something from another planet.

We've been eating for millions of years on Earth and we're still finding out we're dumb. if our understanding IS so very advanced that we know exactly what we need to ahve and what it will do, then we don't really need to be eating soldiers because we can synthesize nutritional meals, it would be just a matter of chemistry.

If we don't need to eat the enemy then theres no reason to do it other than to be a jerk. Eating someone to be a jerk is not very ethical.
The raiders aren't nonsentient. The arachnids I wouldn't eat but I'd be happy to blow limbs off as they seem to have set the ground rules for that pretty emphatically. I would be honoring their view of combat.

[Enigma]

I wouldn't have any trouble if our eney were psychotic cows with guns or homicidal pigs, but eating an alien enemy? Nahh, I don't think I could do that.

[Junghalli]

Well honestly any interstellar war scenario is going to be to extinction (for reasons extensively covered on atomic rocket and other places). So "peace treaty" doesn't really factor into it.

A peace treaty is still a factor unless both sides are completely committed to extermination. It may be easier to convince the enemy you're not worth the trouble of trying to wipe out than to completely destroy them.

[Cykeisme]

Considering aliens may have a completely different cultural and instinctual framework through which they process such an activity, there is a possibility that there may be a positive psychological effect to eating the enemy's dead.

However, from the information we have (that we wouldn't like it), I think it's reasonable to assume first that they wouldn't like it either, and it would escalate the conflict in an undesirable manner.

I wouldn't have any trouble if our eney were psychotic cows with guns or homicidal pigs, but eating an alien enemy? Nahh, I don't think I could do that.

What if the alien enemies really looked and tasted like psychotic cows with guns, or homicidal pigs?

[Gil Hamilton]

1. The increased likelihood of disease. Pathogens have a much easier time infecting organisms that belong to the same species, due to the fact that there are much less barriers to overcome. Transmission between different species means having the proper adpatations, and that is less likely to happen. Then there's stuff like mad cow disease.

Because it's incredibly sanitary to eat aliens who carry who know's what disease and parasites which you corpsified on a battlefield? Or are you rounding them up from their homes?

2. Eating other humans, among civilized nations, is a long standing taboo. Imagine the public whiplash that would occur if soldiers cooked guerrillas for breakfast.

Yet, you think that it is fine to eating people from civilized nations which don't happen to be human is A-OK. Remember, they are intelligent here. Have you considered WHY there would be a huge public backlash if our soldiers were frying up guerrillas?

3. Eating your own kind is not a good strategy for the surivival of your species, ESPECIALLY when there is plenty of other food available. Cannibalism tends to be a last resort; i. e. when there is no other food available and you will soon starve to death.
I wonder what it does for the survival of the human race when you convince aliens that human beings are psychotic cannibal space monsters?

After all, killing one of your own for food removes a (potentially) productive member of society, plus there is the emotional duress involved. You don't want to eat your best friend.

I wonder what effect it has on the survival of the human race is you convince aliens that we are a race of psychotic space cannibals who have no decency or respect for the dead to the point that we are cooking and eating them?

4. Cultures that engage in cannibalism typically do it as part of a ritual (for example, demonstrating superiority over the other tribe). They are still around, so they don't do this often enough that population or disease becomes an issue.

Most tribes that engage in cannibalism don't exist anymore. They were either rendered extinct or had their culture conquered and weren't allowed to be cannibals anymore. They aren't something we want to emulate.

As for ET eating us, yeah. We don't like to be eaten. But come on, if we are at war with aliens, and we eat them, then obviously we aren't engaging in cannibalism. Besides, suppose that the aliens we're eating turn out not to be that intelligent after all. Or suppose that in the enemy's culture, eating your foe is a sign of superiority and dominance - thus, eating them might lead to the enemy respecting or even liking us (these are aliens, after all. They may not think like we do!).

That's an awful lot of assumptions you are making to justify yourself. Leaving aside whether or not it is cannibalism to eat intelligent beings who aren't human:

1) I very much doubt aliens will be engaging in interstellar war with the human race will turn out to be "non-intelligent".

2) Or suppose they are horribly offended by the brutal desecration of their dead and decide that the only response is our extinction? What is your point?