Why do some people call themselves vegetarians but still eat fish?
1) This is mainly for historical reasons. True vegetarianism was practically inexistent in Europe from the Christianisation of the Roman Empire to the 19th century. Still today, a majority of people in the “Western World” are not vegetarian and have various ideas about what it means. For instance, the main food-related directive in Christianity was fasting, and its meaning evolved over the years from just eating nothing (but drinking water) to not eating “meat” (so you could eat “fish”, for instance). Note that vegetarianism does not necessarily mean the absolute lack of use of animal products: vegetarians who are not vegans could use or eat honey, leather, dairy products or eggs. Some people say that they don’t eat anything with eyes (or with a face). This would also permit eating oysters and the like (but would not be vegetarianism). 2) “Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes all animal, including poultry, game, fish, shellfish or crustacea, and slaughter by-products.
There are many varieties of vegetarians. Some eat no meat what so ever. Some will eat eggs. Of course, you mentioned fish. Some are “part time vegetarians” eating meat on few occasions. Vegetarian is a very flexible term without a modifying adjective to describe what type of vegetarian you mean. There are fruitarians. My guess re fish is that they are not mammals and as such, are not viewed as an intelligent animal as are land animals. It is a bit of an ehtical compromise though, and a strict vegetarian would not eat fish.
