The Benefits of Vegetarianism by Sadegh Hedayat

Sadegh Hedayat remained a vegetarian until the end of his life, calling meat 'a carcass, a corpse in the process of decay.' His book The Benefits of Vegetarianism addresses the ethical reasons, physiology, and the cruel industry of meat production, and includes quotations from prominent vegetarians.

Sadegh Hedayat became a vegetarian in his youth and also wrote a book on the benefits of vegetarianism. He remained a vegetarian until the end of his life. Bozorg Alavi writes about this: "I once saw him in a café in Lalehzar take a bite of a meat pastry, called a bulki in Russian, thinking it contained a sweet filling, and suddenly his eyes turned red, sweat appeared on his forehead, and he was about to vomit when he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and spat the unchewed morsel into it." He always refrained from eating meat and, in response to his friends' requests that he consume meat, he would say: I do not eat these decaying carcasses and corpses. The book The Benefits of Vegetarianism addresses the arguments of vegetarians. From the ethical reasons for vegetarianism (challenging the concept of reason with a view that Descartes considered exclusive to humans) to discussions about human physiology (which, according to the arguments in this book, is compatible with vegetarianism). This book also examines the cruel meat production industry and its subtle points that people do not often think about. In this book, Sadegh Hedayat has also gathered quotations from prominent vegetarians, which are well worth reading.