I've had some great conversations since my first article on Sentientism was published in Areo. As a reminder, Sentientism is an ethical philosophy or worldview that applies evidence and reason and extends moral consideration to all sentient beings. Sentient beings have the ability to experience things - suffering or flourishing. They include humans, non-human animals and potentially even artificial or alien intelligences.
One recurring theme of those conversations, often with fellow humanists, runs as follows...
"Humanism already does a good enough job. Most humanists do care about non-human animals (anecdotally ~40% seem to be vegan or vegetarian in some countries) and we can stretch the humanist concept easily to sentient AIs. Humanists UK and the IHEU already reference sentient non-human animals in their definitions. The term humanism only applies to moral objects or agents - we can and do extend our concern to non-human subjects. Humanism is already a reasonably well organised movement via the IHEU and national organisations. Humanism is a simpler term and is already widely understood. It has a rich intellectual and cultural heritage. Sentientism is a clunky term that might just confuse people and may fragment an important progressive movement."
I have some sympathy with these lines of argument. I see humanism as a force for good that I don’t want to distract from or fragment. That gave me pause for thought when deciding whether to put effort into my rather amateur project to develop and popularise Sentientism.
The central reason I decided to keep going was the term humanism itself. While many humanists do extend their circles of concern more widely, the term humanism implies and encourages an anthropocentric focus on one species and gives us all excuses for cognitive dissonance and akrasia (not that we need any). I've set out some example symptoms of this human-centricity below:
Formal definitions of Humanism focus almost without exception on the human species. The Wikipedia entry on Humanism describes Humanism as "...a philosophical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively." There is no mention of the moral consideration of non-human animals. I recently proposed the following addition to the page in the "Criticism" section. It was deleted almost immediately:
"Humanism faces criticism for Anthropocentrism, a focus on the central importance of the human species. Some humanist organisations include moral concern for animals or other living things in their definitions[85][86], but humanist campaigns and policies focus almost entirely on the human species[87]. The Sentientism worldview shares humanism's naturalism, but explicitly grants meaningful moral consideration to all sentient beings, for example precluding their harming or slaughter for use in animal products[88]."
Humanist campaigns (all of which I support) are almost entirely focused on the human species and more specifically on resisting religious civil privileges and harms. I can only find one IHEU or Humanist organisation campaign that focuses on non-human animals, that re: pre-stunning slaughter. The campaign does address animal suffering as a factor but seems just as motivated by wanting to avoid privileging supernatural views. It is implied that non-religious slaughter is morally acceptable, despite the supposed humanist concern for sentient non-humans.
Two of the most influential recent humanist books (Better Angels of Our Nature and Enlightenment Now by Steve Pinker) – include a focus on animal cruelty but hardly mention the rapidly increasing, industrial scale suffering caused by animal farming. That oversight, by someone who does personally grant moral consideration to non-human animals, is typical of the humanist, anthropomorphic perspective.
Most humanists needlessly consume products that require the harming and killing of sentient non-human animals – implying that, in terms of their actual choices, they do not grant them a meaningful level of moral consideration. You'll find many leading humanists on our Not Quite Sentientist list.
Humanism only considers humans as moral agents or subjects. Other sentients can be moral subjects or agents too - as far as those concepts make any sense. Morality, at least in rudimentary forms, existed long before humans and continues in other species today.
Some humanists use their interpretation of Humanism to justify mis-treatment of other species to further human ends. This seems to be a non-religious version of the religious right to human dominion over non-human animals.
Many humanists struggle to understand that non-human artificial or alien intelligences may eventually warrant moral consideration.
So, in my view, humanism needs this upgrade. Anthropocentrism limits us and our morality.
At the very least, I’d like to maintain a constructive pressure on the humanism movement. The early steps by some humanist organisations to extend moral consideration beyond our species and to act in line with that consideration are encouraging. More need to be taken - and quickly.
I’d love to know what you think. Please comment below, via @Sentientism on Twitter or in one of our friendly community groups.
This page will let you know what we’ve been up to but I wanted to share a few highlights:
Criticism, suggestions, offers of help and amplification / sharing are always welcome. Thanks so much for all the help so far and to those who’ve been doing their own things to develop our collective Sentientism project – working to normalise “evidence, reason and compassion for all sentient beings”. A special thanks to Denise and Tarabella who have found our Patreon page and are contributing to our production costs.
The numbers below should give some indication of how many of the remaining ~7.7 billion humans (let alone the powerful AIs) we have yet to persuade 😊. As ever, you and friends are very welcome in any of our online groups. They’re open to anyone interested, not just sentients who have a Sentientist worldview:
Raising Awareness:
Communities (a big thank you to the volunteers that set up and run each of these):
Walls:
Please forward this on to others who might find the Sentientism worldview interesting! They can sign up for updates at the bottom of Sentientism.info.
I hope you and yours are well. Here’s to a more compassionate, thoughtful world,
Jamie.
Find our Sentientist conversation here on the Sentientism YouTube and here on the Sentientism Podcast.
Peter is often referred to as the “world’s most influential living philosopher.” He is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics, approaching the subject from a secular, naturalistic, utilitarian perspective. He wrote the books "Animal Liberation", Why Vegan? and "Animal Liberation Now!" (launched on the same day as our Sentientism episode - join his speaking tour here!), in which he argues against speciesism and for a shift to plant-based food systems and veganism. He also wrote the essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" and the books "The Life You Can Save" & "The Most Good You Can Do" which argue for effective altruism - using evidence & reasoning to do the most good we can for all sentient beings both human and not.
In 2004 Peter was recognised as the Australian Humanist of the Year by the Council of Australian Humanist Societies. In 2005, the Sydney Morning Herald placed him among Australia's ten most influential public intellectuals. Singer is a cofounder of Animals Australia & the founder of The Life You Can Save. In 2021 he received the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. Peter donated the $1 million prize money to the most effective organizations working to assist people in extreme poverty and to reduce the suffering of animals in factory farms.
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”
Sentientism is “evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” The audio is on our Podcast here on Apple & here on all the other platforms.
We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
06:12 What's Real?
26:25 What Matters?
38:58 Who Matters?
01:10:05 How Can We Make A Better Future?
Following Peter:
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info.
Join our “I’m a Sentientist” wall using this simple form.
Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on Facebook.
Thanks to Graham for the post-production and to Tarabella and Denise for helping to fund this episode via our Sentientism Patreon.
Find our Sentientist Conversation here on the Sentientism podcast and here on the Sentientism YouTube.
Michael is head of philosophy at the University of Liverpool. His current work spans transhumanism, death and meaning. He has written on whether non-human animals can have meaningful lives and What It Is Like to Be a Bot. He says of his work: “As a philosopher, I am a generalist, which is a nice way of saying that I have done many different things and I am not really an expert on anything in particular. Most people would probably tag me as an ethicist, but this is only true in a very broad sense. Figuring out what is right and what is wrong, permissible or impermissible, does not hold much interest for me. It seems to me that when people are debating these questions they are actually arguing about something else, namely who we want to be and in what kind of world we want to live. For me, doing philosophy is ultimately a sustained attempt to get to grips with this “deeply puzzling world” (to borrow an expression of Mary Midgley’s), to understand it and to understand our place in it. Philosophy is not business; it’s personal, more akin to therapy than to science. It’s about finding out what is actually going on and what we are doing here. Can philosophy provide an answer to these questions? I don’t know. All we can do is keep on trying. Perhaps what matters is not that we find an answer, but that we keep the question alive.”
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”
Sentientism is “evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” The audio is on our Podcast here on Apple & here on all the other platforms.
We discuss:
00:00 Welcome
01:42 Michael's Intro
06:06 What's Real?
29:03 What Matters?
45:35 Who Matters?
01:26:44 How Can We Make a Better Future?
Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info.
Join our “I’m a Sentientist” wall using this simple form.
Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on Facebook.
Thanks to Graham for the post-production and to Tarabella and Denise for helping to fund this episode via our Sentientism Patreon.