On the Threshold Argument against Consumer Meat Purchases

Though most meat purchases may cause no harm to animals, on rare occasions they may trigger significant increases in meat production levels, which will lead to great harm. No prospective meat purchaser can know whether her purchase will lead to great harm. But the magnitude of the harm that could be caused by a purchase leading to a significant production increase—even when reduced in view of the very low probability that such an increase would actually occur—would outweigh any benefit the purchase might yield. Thus, no one should purchase meat.