@Sentientism

Evidence, reason + compassion for all sentient beings ➡️ #Sentientism Evidence, reason + compassion for humans ➡️ #Humanism Evidence + reason ➡️ #Naturalism 👀👂🏽📗: sentientism.info ✊🏾💚: facebook.com/groups/sentien… Add yourself to our "wall": sentientism.info/wall

"Animal Economics" by @Sentientism podcast/YT guest Nicolas Treich (ep 115) is the latest book on our Bookshop shelf: uk.bookshop.org/lists/books-by… @Treich13 @bookshop_org_UK #SentientistEconomics

"Animal Economics" by #Sentientism podcast/YT guest Nicolas Treich (ep 115) is the latest book on our Bookshop shelf: uk.bookshop.org/lists/books-by… @Treich13 @bookshop_org_UK #SentientistEconomics

A secular dogma: exploiting nonhuman sentient beings: newrepublic.com/article/208040… @jan_dutkiewicz

OK, OK, I get it. #Sentientism is a bit of a mouthful. It has 5 syllables! 😮 But Christianity has 5 too and they seem to have done alright 🙂 And then there's Zoroastrianism! 😱 There are better reasons to pick a #Worldview

Building a more compassionate future ❤️ #VARC

@JPKivisto @chaitinsgoose Because sentient beings don’t like being harmed, by definition. And because…

@sentientism @chaitinsgoose And why is harming other bad?

“Simply because we’re human” is not a good answer for why we should have rights.

@JPKivisto @chaitinsgoose Because morality is having concern for others. You can choose to be amoral or immoral if you want. Hopefully the rest of us will constrain you from harming others.

@sentientism @chaitinsgoose Why?

The NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy is thrilled to be hosting Ned Block for a talk on AI consciousness! This talk will be held during our Mind, Ethics, and Policy Summit on April 10. Summit guests will attend in person, others can attend online. RSVP 👇 Please join us!

Such a pleasure to talk about the @sentientism worldview with Carrie Freeman on her In Tune to Nature radio show and podcast. Thanks Carrie! Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/6clMbh… Web: cpfreeman.podbean.com/e/how-can-a-se… Apple: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/how…

Beagle-rescuing hero Alexandra Paul 🤩: youtu.be/mo9I6Ihs6QM

@JPKivisto @chaitinsgoose Indeed. There may be a sextillion sentient beings on our planet. In the wild, in our farms, in our laboratories, in our zoos, in our homes, in our cities. Every one matters. We should at least work to not exploit, harm or kill them.

@sentientism @chaitinsgoose Quite many animals are sentient including bees.

"A pastor said 'we're all born with sin'... I just thought 'that's not true'... I don't believe that people are born bad." Actress & activist Alexandra Paul joins me for episode 165! Watch at youtu.be/mo9I6Ihs6QM & listen on the #Sentientism podcast.

@ikesharpless @PhilosopherJoeC I am one of those principled defenders of sentient rights. And of course there’s contestation. That’s normal even within human rights. sentientism.info/sentientism-in…

@sentientism @PhilosopherJoeC Also regarding humans it depends on the right in question. Contestation over rights is common and it seems quite necessary.

Who else are we trying to convince?

@ikesharpless @kantbulldog I’m painfully aware that this is politically contentious. Just as extending rights to all humans was and still is contentious to some. And it would be a warped system of rights that grants one of us the right to exploit and kill another for trivial reasons.

@sentientism @kantbulldog (For instance in the sense that humans don’t generally eat each other, but they do often eat eg octopi.)

@PhilosopherJoeC Rights are supposed to be normative, not just descriptive. Some humans deny rights to other humans. We don’t just accept this. We say they’re wrong. Should be the same with those who deny rights to sentients. Don’t exclude any valid moral patient.

@sentientism Maybe rights apply to all sentient beings. Still, if all humans regard humans as having rights, they have rights. What else could make a difference?

@kantbulldog @ikesharpless I think that makes sense. Although I’d still be tempted to grant a right to education to any being who has an interest in being educated and the capacity to undergo education. Rather than relying on a species designation?

"Our duties of education are to human beings." Our duty to humans (as co-workers in the moral community) to educate human beings. Now I do want to say we have a duty to sentient beings generally (as co-beneficiaries in the moral community) to educate human beings. That I believe in.

@kantbulldog @ikesharpless And while there are some rights that are less relevant to non-humans (and many humans too!), even some of the less obvious ones can still be relevant. Social mammal infants, for example, should have the right to being educated by their parents/group? sentientism.info/universal-decl…

@kantbulldog @ikesharpless As you imply, simply being human, by itself, isn't a good grounding for human rights. Instead, there are things about us (interest in living, not suffering, rationality...) that ground our rights. Many of these things are shared with all the other sentient beings. 1/2

@ikesharpless I guess I'm asking what is it about humans that grounds these rights? Even for humans, rights are there to protect us from harm. And to enable us to benefit. That's why "because we can be harmed or benefitted" is a better answer. One that also applies to all sentient beings.

@sentientism No that’s not what I was saying. In addition to capabilities-based approaches sometimes species-specific rights can be reasonable, and for humans they can provide a useful ground for solidarity and a shared conception of human dignity.

@chaitinsgoose You're the one who misread my OP. & you're a 🪿, so you should like Sentientism. Even for humans, rights are there to protect us from harm & to enable us to benefit. That's why "because we can be harmed or benefitted" is a better answer. One that applies to all sentients.

@sentientism you seem to have very poor reading comprehension. at least we know you aren't ai!