ABSTRACT
This chapter explains and criticizes the act utilitarian argument for veganism. The most notable problem for it is the threat of individual causal inefficacy. The standard solution to this problem, perhaps most widely known from Alastair Norcross’s work, appeals to “order thresholds.” I then detail Mark Budolfson’s criticism of this solution, providing some empirical details that bolster Budolfson’s argument. Finally, I argue that even if Budolfson’s criticism fails, the solution faces an entirely different problem: the problem of welfare thresholds, where certain economic thresholds result in widespread reductions in animal welfare. Either way, we don’t get a successful argument from act utilitarianism to veganism, that is, we don’t have sufficient evidence to the effect that the expected utility of purchasing animal products is negative.
