Jonathan Birch on the Edge of Sentience
Philosophy Bites
Deep Dive
What is the definition of sentience according to Jonathan Birch?
Sentience is the capacity to have any positively or negatively valenced feeling, including pain, pleasure, joy, excitement, stress, boredom, comfort, and discomfort. It captures any experience that feels good or bad.
Why does Jonathan Birch prefer the term 'sentience' over 'consciousness'?
Birch finds 'sentience' clearer because it focuses on the most basic, elemental, and evolutionarily ancient layer of human consciousness—raw sensations and feelings—rather than higher cognitive functions like reflection or inner monologue.
What is the ethical significance of sentience in animal welfare laws?
Sentience is a crucial threshold in animal welfare laws because it determines which animals should be protected. The ability to suffer, as Jeremy Bentham noted, is the key factor, not reasoning or communication.
Does Jonathan Birch believe sentience varies by degree among animals?
Birch does not believe sentience varies by degree. Instead, he argues that there is tremendous variation in sensory abilities, intelligence, and cognitive sophistication among sentient beings, but these do not make one animal more or less sentient than another.
What is the 'edge of sentience' and how does Birch describe it?
The 'edge of sentience' refers to the boundary between sentient and non-sentient beings. Birch describes it in three ways: the real-world boundary (which may be sharp or fuzzy), the edge of our knowledge (where doubt creeps in), and practical edges (where decisions must be made, such as in laws).
What evidence suggests that bees might be sentient?
Bees display impressive learning abilities, such as pulling strings or rolling balls for rewards, and exhibit play-like behavior even without rewards. They also show self-protective behaviors, like grooming injured antennae, which suggests a realistic possibility of pain and emotional experiences.
What practical steps does Birch recommend for treating animals humanely?
Birch advocates for a precautionary principle, erring on the side of caution when there is evidence of sentience. He suggests low-cost changes, such as stunning lobsters before boiling them, and emphasizes the need for proportionate actions based on the identified risks.
How has Jonathan Birch's work influenced animal welfare laws in the UK?
Birch's 2021 report led to the UK government amending the Animal Welfare Sentience Act to include octopuses, crabs, lobsters, and crayfish, recognizing them as sentient beings. This creates a duty for policymakers to consider their welfare impacts.
What are some examples of animal welfare issues in aquaculture and insect farming?
In aquaculture, practices like cutting eye stalks off breeding shrimp to increase egg production show disregard for sentience. In insect farming, welfare is often neglected despite the growing investment in these industries as sustainable protein sources.
- Sentience is defined as the capacity to have positively or negatively valenced feelings.
- The question of animal sentience is ethically significant because it should influence how we treat animals.
- Jeremy Bentham's quote: "The question is not can they reason or can they talk, but can they suffer?"
Shownotes Transcript