Why I Am a Vegetarian / An Address Delivered Before the Chicago Vegetarian Society

The speaker presents a concise defense of vegetarianism grounded in ethics, health, and moral philosophy, urging compassion and solidarity with nonhuman animals while condemning routine meat consumption as cruel and unnecessary. He describes a personal shift from craving flesh to moral revulsion and improved wellbeing, situates dietary reform alongside other social progress movements that once met fierce resistance, and marshals scientific and analogical reasoning to show plant-based sustenance is viable. The address anticipates common objections and calls for continued reflection and social change to overcome ingrained habits of inconsideration toward other species.