“Animals as Strangers” at the Table: A Phenomenological Inquiry into the “Meat Paradox” through the Lens of Compassion

Abstract

The aim of this article is to offer a phenomenological reconsideration of the meat paradox through the lens of compassion toward animals. Rather than approaching the paradox primarily as a cognitive-affective conflict or a problem of moral inconsistency, the analysis examines the experiential structures through which it is constituted and lived. It begins with the experiences of hunger and eating, showing how animals may acquire contrasting significance as vulnerable living beings eliciting compassion and as sources of nourishment. The analysis then turns to corporeal proximity and distance, visibility and concealment, examining how these relations may shape, without determining, the emergence and exercise of compassion. Particular attention is given to the limits of compassionate responsiveness, from its possible anesthetization through distance and concealment to the affective strain associated with repeated exposure to animal suffering. Finally, the article considers emerging forms of meat production, arguing that the future of the meat paradox does not involve its resolution or disappearance, but its reconfiguration alongside changing relations between animals, food, and compassion.