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Sentientism AI simulator
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Hub AI
Sentientism AI simulator
(@Sentientism_simulator)
Sentientism
Sentientism (or sentiocentrism) is an ethical philosophy that places organismal sentience at the center of moral concern. It holds that both humans and other, non-human sentient beings have interests that must be considered. Gradualist sentientism assigns moral consideration based on the degree of sentience.
Sentientists argue that assigning different moral weights to sentient beings arbitrarily, based solely on their species membership, constitutes a form of unjustified discrimination known as speciesism. Many individuals who identify as humanists consider themselves sentientists, a term that does not imply that humanism is solely concerned with human interests. Sentientism, therefore, opposes the philosophy advocating only human-centered ethics.
The term sentientism was used by John Rodman in 1977 who referred to Peter Singer's philosophy as "a kind of zoöcentric sentientism". Andrew Linzey defined the term in 1980 to denote an attitude that arbitrarily favours sentients over non-sentients.
The 18th-century utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham was among the first to argue for sentientism. He maintained that any individual who is capable of subjective experience should be considered a moral subject. Members of species who are able to experience pleasure and pain are thus included in the category. In his Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Bentham made a comparison between slavery and sadism toward humans and non-human animals:
The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor [see Louis XIV's Code Noir] ... What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or, perhaps, the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day, or a week, or even a month, old. But suppose the case were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
— Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, (1823), 2nd edition, Chapter 17, footnote
The late 19th- and early 20th-century American philosopher J. Howard Moore, in Better-World Philosophy (1899), described every sentient being as existing in a constant state of struggle. He argued that what aids them in their struggle can be called good and what opposes them can be called bad. Moore believed that only sentient beings can make such moral judgements because they are the only parts of the universe which can experience pleasure and suffering. As a result, he argued that sentience and ethics are inseparable and therefore every sentient piece of the universe has an intrinsic ethical relationship to every other sentient part, but not the insentient parts. Moore used the term "zoocentricism" to describe the belief that universal consideration and care should be given to all sentient beings; he believed that this was too difficult for humans to comprehend in their current stage of development.
Other prominent philosophers discussing or defending sentientism include Joel Feinberg, Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Mary Anne Warren.
Sentientism
Sentientism (or sentiocentrism) is an ethical philosophy that places organismal sentience at the center of moral concern. It holds that both humans and other, non-human sentient beings have interests that must be considered. Gradualist sentientism assigns moral consideration based on the degree of sentience.
Sentientists argue that assigning different moral weights to sentient beings arbitrarily, based solely on their species membership, constitutes a form of unjustified discrimination known as speciesism. Many individuals who identify as humanists consider themselves sentientists, a term that does not imply that humanism is solely concerned with human interests. Sentientism, therefore, opposes the philosophy advocating only human-centered ethics.
The term sentientism was used by John Rodman in 1977 who referred to Peter Singer's philosophy as "a kind of zoöcentric sentientism". Andrew Linzey defined the term in 1980 to denote an attitude that arbitrarily favours sentients over non-sentients.
The 18th-century utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham was among the first to argue for sentientism. He maintained that any individual who is capable of subjective experience should be considered a moral subject. Members of species who are able to experience pleasure and pain are thus included in the category. In his Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Bentham made a comparison between slavery and sadism toward humans and non-human animals:
The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor [see Louis XIV's Code Noir] ... What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or, perhaps, the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day, or a week, or even a month, old. But suppose the case were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?
— Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, (1823), 2nd edition, Chapter 17, footnote
The late 19th- and early 20th-century American philosopher J. Howard Moore, in Better-World Philosophy (1899), described every sentient being as existing in a constant state of struggle. He argued that what aids them in their struggle can be called good and what opposes them can be called bad. Moore believed that only sentient beings can make such moral judgements because they are the only parts of the universe which can experience pleasure and suffering. As a result, he argued that sentience and ethics are inseparable and therefore every sentient piece of the universe has an intrinsic ethical relationship to every other sentient part, but not the insentient parts. Moore used the term "zoocentricism" to describe the belief that universal consideration and care should be given to all sentient beings; he believed that this was too difficult for humans to comprehend in their current stage of development.
Other prominent philosophers discussing or defending sentientism include Joel Feinberg, Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Mary Anne Warren.