Here’s our wall of sentientists. If, like them, you’re committed to evidence and reason and have compassion for all sentient beings, why not join them and add your tile here.
“Suffering matters, no matter who experiences it. Sentientism is the label that captures this world view.”
Michael Dello-Iacovo (michaeldello.com and @MichaelDello) is a PhD candidate in space science, looking at off-Earth exploration, mining & asteroid impact risk. Michael hosts the Morality is Hard podcast where he examines ethical questions and argues that everyday ethical choices are harder than we think they are. He is currently on the New South Wales state committee for the Animal Justice Party, sits on the national policy committee and is a committee member of the party’s youth wing. Michael has dedicated his life to giving back and making the world a better place for all. To that end, in 2016 he pledged to donate all of his income above $45,000 each year to the most effective charities and causes, a pledge which he will uphold with his parliamentary income, if elected. Michael was previously the CEO of Effective Altruism Australia.
Michael’s Sentientist Conversation with me on the Sentientism YouTube and Podcast
@MichaelDello
Michael Dello
“‘May all that have life be delivered from suffering.” (Gautama Buddha) Let’s help other creatures, not harm them. Any civilisation worthy of the name will be vegan. Our goal should be the well-being of all sentience.”
David is a philosopher who co-founded the World Transhumanist Association, now rebranded as Humanity+, with Nick Bostrum. David writes on a range of transhumanist topics and what he calls the “hedonistic imperative”, a moral obligation to work towards the abolition of suffering in all sentient life. His self-published internet manifesto, The Hedonistic Imperative, outlines how pharmacology, genetic engineering, nanotechnology and neurosurgery could converge to eliminate all forms of unpleasant experience from human and non-human life, replacing suffering with “gradients of bliss”. David calls this the “abolitionist project”.
@webmasterdave
The Hedonistic Imperative (HedWeb)
David on Wikipedia
It’s a perfect description of my ethical and moral approach to life.
Sentience matters for moral consideration. Evidence, Reason, Universalism.
Compassion
I realised it’s not just humans, other beings are individuals too. They think, they feel, they have understanding.
@whynotvegan2
I’ve considered myself a secular Humanist for the past 35 years or so, but at an even younger age, before the double digits, I felt that the injustices to other sentient beings, for example the suffering of laboratory animals for the benefit of humans and the rape of rain forests and indigenous peoples, was and still is a terribly myopic view of our role as part of life on Earth, and a completely unfair imbalance in favor of one species, or nation, at the detriment to all other sentients. I feel it’s natural that these two philosophies are part of one way.
No sentient being is above others. I have no right to persecute other beings for food, clothing or vanity. I have freed myself from years of peer pressure, trying to make me do what is wrong.
Sentientism, like veganism for me, is very much a guiding principle in life. It came to me as a revelation in my late teens, that life choices held such hypocrisy. I found myself in turmoil over consuming some animals, whilst protecting others. I began to question the disparity around the world, the human injustice & wanton exploitation of the natural world. I realised I was a believer in sentientism fundamentally…that I was seeking to make decisions based on best insights into science, evidence, reason and supported with a compassionate disposition. It came natural to me, as I chose veganism. Understanding that all life has an innate right to exist..that it is not our place to attribute a ‘scale of value’ to beings, with humankind at the peak. Sentientism is the ultimate liberation from the man-made tyranny of rigid belief systems. It is simply ‘freedom’.
I’m a sentientist because i cannot justify ethical isolationism.
@christofglass
Ethics demand that the strong inflict no harm on those who feel pain and fear. Humans are animals, too.
I don’t believe humans are qualitatively more special than other creatures, except insomuch as we flatter ourselves.
I believe in extending moral consideration to all sentient beings as individuals with their own interests and values. I am also a longtime Humanist and member of the AHA because I believe in the separation of church and state and the promotion of a scientific rationalist point of view.
@EthicalSentient (Twitter), @EthicalSentient (Insta) and other social media.
Heather is a scientist (zoology and biology), philosopher & a former zookeeper & animal welfare officer. She is now a researcher at the London School of Economics specialising in non-human animal sentience, welfare, & ethics.
Find Heather’s Sentientist Conversation with me here on Youtube or here on the Sentientism podcast.
If a sentientist is someone who wants to use evidence, reason and compassion for the benefit of all sentient beings, I consider myself a sentientist.
“The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” – Bertrand Russell
I’m a sentientist because considering the common attribute of sentient beings, that is, the ability to suffer, has lead me to believe that all sentient beings deserve moral consideration.
@willsattnz
Because it is altruism that makes sense!
‘The question is not, Can they reason?, nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?’ Jeremy Bentham, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
All sentient beings have interests that deserve full and rational consideration
It is my core value that every sentient being deserves a good, happy life. Whatever their race, religion, class, gender, sexuality or species may be. I want their suffering to stop. Reason and evidence is a must when trying to solve questions on how to help those who suffer, to discover who is suffering and how they are suffering. I prefer sentientism over animalism because it doesn’t limit our moral circle to animals, but opens it to any kind of being who may be able to feel pain.
Because our choices need to be based on reason.
@juliocesarprava
I selected all sentient perceptual experience as my ultimate ethical value after studying philosophy and completely rebuilding my ethical beliefs without previous dogmas. It came as a result of thoughts that emerged around the being-for-itself concept in Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness book and Peter Singer’s work. Consequently I have become an act utilitarian, vegan and an effective altruist. The concept has had a profound impact on my significant long-term decisions. I am confident that the world would be significantly better for everyone if everyone valued sentient experience, maximised positive perceptual experience and minimised negative perceptual experience.
I’m a sentientist because I believe any living being who processes emotion, good or bad, deserves respect and should be treated as equal.
@alice_oven
not fully sure yet. i so far like what i hear but like any group like this i like to check out the people and see if they match the words