Find our Sentientist Conversation on the Sentientism YouTube here or on the Sentientism podcast here.

C Lou / Carrie (https://twitter.com/clouhamilton1 & https://veganismsexandpolitics.com/ & https://www.drcarriehamilton.com/) is an author, editor, historian & translator. She wrote the book “Veganism, Sex & Politics: Tales of Danger & Pleasure” about her vegan journey & how veganism relates to wider social justice issues including feminist, queer & anti-racist politics as well as environmentalism.

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.” As well as the video above, the audio is on our Podcast here on Apple and here on the other platforms.

We discuss:
0:00 Welcome

2:05 Carrie’s Intro – academic history to writing & activism

• Acknowledging Canada’s indigenous & settlement history
• Growing up near Toronto
• Agnostic, democratic socialist parents, focused on social justice, activism, environmentalism & practice. No feminism, animal ethics or colonial awareness
• “I didn’t know any vegetarians when I was growing up”
• Extending moral consideration beyond humans. Considering our responsibilities
• Feminism & women’s studies
• The liberation of leaving academia
• Writing “Veganism, Sex & Politics”
• Academic activism, public reach & politics
• “The idea that you would do animal studies while at the same time eating their bodies…”

16:25 What’s Real?

• Agnosticism
• Psychedelics, spiritual/mystical experiences
• Having respect for religious people but little patience for religious institutions. Not positive influences. Patriarchy & authoritarianism
• Institutional abuse & cover-ups
• Naturalistic & supernatural experiences of awe & wonder
• How supernatural beliefs can warp ethics
• How religious organisations use societal deference as a shield
• The positive contributions of religious institutions
• Feminism: asking questions & considering practicalities

30:09 What Matters?

• Supernatural & naturalistic ethical frameworks
• The importance of challenging our assumptions & influences (e.g. re: sentient animals & veganism)
• Individualism, collectivism, authoritarianism, dogma
• Forms of feminism
• “It’s important to think about… & revise… where our values come from”
• Movements that are ostensibly secular often mindlessly integrate aspects of authoritarianism & dogma from religion
• Criticisms of veganism as puritan & sacrificial. But it’s a pleasure!
• The challeges of talking about veganism as a “moral baseline” (Francione, Steiner). Too much dogma?
• Applying a naturalistic humility & scepticism to ethics
• Introspection via Buddhist meditation & writing
• Having the space & resources to slow down & be mindful
• Activist burnout
• Amie “Breeze” Harper’s “Sistah Vegan”
• Compassion for ourselves as sentient beings
• Feminist ethics of care. Where does the burden of caring lie? Frustrating that care often not extended to non-humans
• Interdependence & mutual relations. Val Plumwood’s “Feminism & the Mastery of Nature”
• Animal farming is incompatible with feeding 9b humans
• Singer’s Animal Liberation
• The imperative of ending animal farming & fishing
• The pluralism of Sentientism
• The boundaries of sentience (oysters, shrimp, coral, plants?)
• A special guest joins us!
• Eco/biocentrism
• Environmentalism & anthropocentrism
• Is Sentientism eurocentric? The global roots of Sentientism
• The value in indigenous worldviews & the harming/killing of sentient animals in some indigenous cultures
• The risks of “re-colonising” attitudes to indigenous cultures via a sentiocentric concern
• Instrumentalisation vs. commodification vs. suffering as primary concerns
• Brigid Brophy
• Radical equality vs. prioritisation
• Taking the perspective of the victim vs. “ethical” animal farming

1:10:57 The Future

• Naturalism & sentiocentrism (Sentientism) seem solid but most humans disagree with one or both
• “We’re living through a water-shed moment re: animal farming… but we’re working against the clock!”
• Millennials, social media
• Bladerunner. Great movie, not a great vision for the future
• Suffering & death are bad things!
• “I’m not optimistic about the ability of capitalism to reform itself” but I’m not optimistic about revolutions either
• “We’re not interested in reforming animal agriculture…” any more than abolitionists in other fields
• “The profit motive acts as a huge deterrent for people thinking morally”
• Listening doesn’t mean we have to agree
• “I’m increasingly unsatisfied with anyone who has any degree of privilege who claims to be doing social justice work who has no time for veganism”

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 Graham for the post-production.