A Sentience Article from All-Creatures.org




Are Chimps and Dogs More Sentient than Rats and Hamsters?

From Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today / Animal Emotions
September 2022

No evidence shows that mammals such as chimpanzees, wolves, dogs, and cats suffer more than other sentient animals. There aren't degrees of sentience. An individual's joy or pain is theirs alone, and speciesist comparisons are fraught with error. There are differences in how and what individuals feel within and between species. Research reveals that sentient reptiles experience mammalian emotions, and there are many other "surprises" about nonhumans' capacities to feel.

[And read It’s Time To Stop Wondering if Animals Are Sentient—They Are]

Marc Bekoff
Marc Bekoff and Friend

In an email a few weeks ago, 13-year-old Marta asked me,

Are chimps and dogs more sentient than rats and hamsters? Is my dog Harry more sentient than my hamster Millie? Do mammals suffer more than birds, fishes, and other vertebrates and invertebrates? I read your essay 'It’s Time To Stop Wondering if Animals Are Sentient–They Are' and you don't seem to think there are degrees of sentience.

The answer is "no."

Are there degrees or shades of sentience?

Sentience simply means the ability to feel. Marta also wrote,

I don't think Harry's joy or pain is greater than Millie's. I also don't think Harry is smarter than Millie and I don't think that an individual's intelligence makes a difference in how sentient they are.

I was duly impressed with Marta's views. I explained that "intelligence" needs to be considered in light of what an individual needs to do to be a card-carrying member of their species–it's an adaptation–and that comparisons among different species don't tell us much.

So, asking if a dog is smarter than a cat or a cat is smarter than a mouse isn't meaningful. Likewise, asking if dogs suffer more than mice ignores who these animals are and what they must do to survive and thrive in their own worlds, not in ours or the of other nonhumans.

speciesist vs. nonspeciesist
A Representation of speciesist and nonspeciesist perspectives

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.


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