Sentientism

Sentientism This image represents Sentientism by combining emojis and logos representing different types of sentient being: Animal, human, artificial and alien. Sentientism accords degrees of moral consideration to all sentient beings.

Sentientism is an ethical philosophy according to which all sentient beings deserve moral consideration.^[1] In extending compassion to non-human animals as well as to any potential artificial or alien sentient beings, sentientism is an extension of humanism. As in humanism, supernatural beliefs are rejected in favour of critical, evidence-based thinking.^[2]^[3]

According to sentientism, the ability to experience suffering or positive feeling should determine whether we grant moral consideration to an entity.^[4] Non-sentient entities such as protons, parachutes or planets do not need direct moral consideration because they do not feel anything at all, including any effects of the moral decisions and actions of human beings.

Sentience as a moral criterion has a long history, from Jeremy Bentham's An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation^[5] to contemporary philosophers such as Richard D. Ryder and Peter Singer.

Sentientism differs from anti-speciesism in that it bases moral consideration on degrees of sentience, rather than just on rejecting species boundaries.

Unlike painism^[6], sentientism takes into account the full range of experience rather than just pain.

As all human beings are animals, sentientism is in agreement with animalism that all animals warrant moral consideration; but sentientism adds that if there exist sentient non-animal beings, such as artificial or alien beings, then they too would warrant moral consideration.

Notable sentientists[edit]

Notable sentientists include Diana Fleischman,^[7] Peter Singer,^[8] Richard D. Ryder, Jeremy Bentham,^[9] David Pearce, Michael Nugent, Steven Pinker, Janet Radcliffe Richards^[10] and Alasdair Cochrane.^[11]

References[edit]

^ * Linzey, A (1998). "Sentientism". Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare: 311.
^ Ryder, Richard D. (1991). "Souls and Sentientism". Between the Species. 7 (1): Article 3. doi:10.15368/bts.1991v7n1.1.
^ Woodhouse, Jamie (2018-10-07). "Humanism needs an upgrade". Areo. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
^ * Ryder, Richard D. (1993). "Sentientism". The Great Ape Project: 220–222.
^ * Bentham, Jeremy (1780). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Methuen.
^ * Ryder, Richard D. (2009). "Painism versus utilitarianism". Think. 8 (21): 85. doi:10.1017/S1477175608000420.
^ "Diana Fleischman". Diana Fleischman.
^ Singer, Peter (2009). Animal Liberation. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-171130-5.
^ Bentham 1879, Ch. 17.
^ Richards, Janet. "Janet Radcliffe Richards, Richard Norman: Are we still blinkered by pre-Enlightenment thinking?". YouTube. Humanists UK. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ Cochrane, Alasdair (2018). Sentientist Politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198789802.

Jamieson, Dale (2008). A Companion to Environmental Philosophy (Sentientism chapter - Gary Varner). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470751657.
Singer, Peter (2009). Animal Liberation. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-171130-5.
Woodhouse, Jamie. "Is Sentientism the Philosophy that Could Save the World?". Free Inquiry. Center for Inquiry. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
Fox, Warwick (1995). Toward a Transpersonal Ecology: Developing New Foundations for Environmentalism. SUNY Press. pp. 162, 183, 214. ISBN 9780791427750.
Hay, Peter R. (2002). Main Currents in Western Environmental Thought. Indiana University Press. p. 31.
Rodogno, Raffaele (2010). "Sentientism, wellbeing, and environmentalism". Journal of Applied Philosophy. 27 (1): 84. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5930.2009.00475.x.
Ingensiep, Hans Werner (1997). "Personalism, Sentientism, Biocentrism" (PDF). Theory in Biosciences (116): 169.
Ryder, Richard D. (2016). "Response to Regan: Sentientism". Between the Species: A Journal of Ethics. 7 (2): 115–116. doi:10.15368/bts.1991v7n2.11.
Snedecker, Rick. "Sophie the robot may have more human rights than you do". Patheos. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
Woodhouse, Jamie (2018-09-25). "Humanism Needs an Upgrade". www.jamiewoodhouse.com. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
Fleischman, Diana. "The Darwin Day Lecture 2018". Humanists UK.
Woodhouse, Jamie. "From Human rights to sentient rights: the next generation of rights thinking". Open Global Rights. Retrieved 12 September 2019.

External links[edit]

[1] * Linzey, A (1998). "Sentientism". Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare: 311.

[2] Ryder, Richard D. (1991). "Souls and Sentientism". Between the Species. 7 (1): Article 3. doi:10.15368/bts.1991v7n1.1.

[3] Woodhouse, Jamie (2018-10-07). "Humanism needs an upgrade". Areo. Retrieved 21 November 2018.

[4] * Ryder, Richard D. (1993). "Sentientism". The Great Ape Project: 220–222.

[5] * Bentham, Jeremy (1780). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. Methuen.

[6] * Ryder, Richard D. (2009). "Painism versus utilitarianism". Think. 8 (21): 85. doi:10.1017/S1477175608000420.

[7] "Diana Fleischman". Diana Fleischman.

[8] Singer, Peter (2009). Animal Liberation. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-171130-5.

[FOOTNOTEBentham1879Ch._17-9] Bentham 1879, Ch. 17.

[10] Richards, Janet. "Janet Radcliffe Richards, Richard Norman: Are we still blinkered by pre-Enlightenment thinking?". YouTube. Humanists UK. Retrieved 8 October 2019.

[11] Cochrane, Alasdair (2018). Sentientist Politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198789802.

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