The relevance of sentience
Animal sentience has received little attention by those who have studied the characteristics and capabilities of nonhuman animals. This is unfortunate, because animal sentience is a very important issue. Sentience is what matters when we consider which beings to give moral consideration to. Due to this, we need to study the issues of what physical structures are necessary for sentience, which beings are sentient, and what interests sentient beings may have.
In order to understand these problems there are several questions that must be addressed.
The argument from relevance
There are people who argue that in order to be fully respected, one must belong to the human species. In addition, those who reject the full moral consideration of nonhuman animals sometimes maintain an environmentalist…
Why we should give moral consideration to sentient beings, rather than living beings
There are a number of environmentalist positions that oppose granting equal respect to all sentient beings.
Why we should give moral consideration to sentient beings rather than ecosystems
One view that is often defended by environmentalists is that we should care primarily about ecosystems…
Why we should give moral consideration to individuals rather than species
It is often believed that species should be considered and preserved because they have some sort of value in themselves…
