Veganism – once a fringe concept – has become increasingly mainstream in recent years. However, with this has come a change in the public perception of veganism. Originally an essentially moral philosophy, I think many people now see plant-based and vegan as meaning the same thing (a diet) and they see it in terms of personal benefit (health, environment, climate change). That’s fine, I guess, but I’d rather retain the idea that veganism denotes a moral attitude or stance. For me, veganism isn’t anything special – it’s just my everyday moral attitude extended to include other animals as much as I can. That’s about it.

In practice, just like all our other moral stances, how I behave depends a bit on circumstances, convention and evidence. I do my best to do what I think is right but what I do may not be the same as you. I may be more or less fastidious in my moral actions than you. I think that’s how the world works – we work out a general idea of right and wrong and then we each tackle that as we think best.

When it comes to veganism, I probably take what is broadly a welfarist position. I guess I boil it down to caring or being kind. If I can avoid it, why would I harm another creature? I am pretty sure that’s the essence of the Golden Rule. So, my moral stance in the world just is that. However, the world itself isn’t kind or just, that’s just a thing we do. The result is that we can’t be perfect and we can’t always be entirely true to our own moral convinctions. By and large, I think, we just do our best.

If it turns out that someone has to eat meat for good health or because they don’t have access to other decent food, I don’t think that is a bad thing. If someone must use another animal for their own ends, for example an assistance dog, that’s just the way of it. But within that there is no reason still not to do the best we can for the animals our presence effects. Hopefully, we can learn more and use that knowledge and our ideals to act well. That’s what I try to do and it influences the choices I make.

I eat mussels and oysters. I don’t mind eating a piece of meat or whatever if someone offers it to me. I don’t even have a problem with killing and eating animals when it is necessary. I am not that far from ethical omnivorism in dietary terms. Except that I think things like that – or reducetarianism, for example – are largely self focused and I’d rather be a bit more other focused. This might not be what a vegan purist would think is veganism, but it is my personal moral stance, deeply informed by vegan ethics.

And here’s the thing. I don’t see why that means that everyone else cannot do the same. Why, on this flavour of veganism, can’t everyone be “vegan”? In the end, it’s no more than following your existing moral instincts and doing your best for other animals – people included. If veganism is a moral stance, essentially everyday morality, then it follows anyone can be vegan. Farmers included. It’s not clear to me why everyone isn’t!

My point here is that if veganism really is just everyday ethics then it can be integrated into everyday behaviours and choices. Seen as a sort of continuum of moral attitudes that may extend to more purist ideals but which nonetheless remains accessible to common ideas of right and wrong it is possible veganism could be taken as a default stance, rather than an object of opposition and derision. In such a light, veganism is understood and practised just as we tackle all other ethical issues – as best we can with the people we are in our particular circumstances. One might take a strong position on this and become an animal rights activist, another might simply make what they think are the best choices in the things they do.

Such a view of the world can then be informed by actual empirical matters as well as personal circumstances. So long as my interest is to do my best for other animals, the stance I settle on is mine alone and can be refined as better information becomes available to me.

Put another way, for me the goal of veganism as a moral stance is that our ethical attitude to other animals mirrors our ethical attitude to other people. We aim to do our best. Circumstances might mean we can’t apply our ethics equally as well for other animals as for other humans, but so long as we take the same strategy of regarding others’ interests and well-being as important, then I think that’s all we can ask of veganism.