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Ethics of Cultured Meat - A Systematic Philosophical Approach to Assessing the Ethics of your future cultured meat

Research Square · 3 October 2026 · DOI 10.21203/rs.3.rs-10813679/v1

Cultured meat’s ethics depend on how it is made and what it replaces, making broad moral verdicts unreliable. The paper compares philosophical arguments with full production-process models and proposes a common assessment framework covering claims, basic protections, gains over alternatives, distribution, public justification and ongoing review. Different ethical theories keep their own tests rather than yielding one score. Some systems may beat intensive livestock, subject to strict sourcing, inputs, safety, energy and governance conditions. Plant-based or microbial foods may still fare better.

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