# Sentience

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Ability to experience feelings and sensations

Not to be confused with [Sapience](/source/Wisdom#Sapience).

"Sentient" redirects here. For other uses, see [Sentient (disambiguation)](/source/Sentient_(disambiguation)).

Determining which animals can experience sensations is challenging, but scientists generally agree that [vertebrates](/source/Vertebrate), as well as many [invertebrate](/source/Invertebrate) species, are likely sentient.[1][2]

**Sentience** is the ability to experience [feelings](/source/Feeling) and [sensations](/source/Sense).[3] It may not necessarily imply higher cognitive functions such as [awareness](/source/Awareness), [reasoning](/source/Reasoning), or complex [thought processes](/source/Thought_process). Some theorists define sentience exclusively as the capacity for [valenced](/source/Valence_(psychology)) (positive or negative) mental experiences, such as [pain](/source/Pain) and [pleasure](/source/Pleasure).[4]

Sentience is an important concept in [ethics](/source/Ethics), as the ability to experience happiness or suffering often forms a basis for determining which entities deserve [moral consideration](/source/Moral_patienthood), particularly in [utilitarianism](/source/Utilitarianism).[5]

The word "sentience" has been used to translate a variety of concepts in Asian religions. In [science fiction](/source/Science_fiction), "sentience" is sometimes used interchangeably with "[sapience](/source/Sapience)", "[self-awareness](/source/Self-awareness)", or "[consciousness](/source/Consciousness)".[6]

## Sentience in philosophy

The term *sentience* was coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin *[sentiens](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sentiens)* (feeling).[7] In philosophy, different authors draw different distinctions between [consciousness](/source/Consciousness) and sentience. According to [Antonio Damasio](/source/Antonio_Damasio), sentience is a minimalistic way of defining consciousness, which otherwise commonly and collectively describes sentience plus further features of the [mind](/source/Mind) and consciousness, such as [creativity](/source/Creativity), [intelligence](/source/Intelligence), [sapience](/source/Sapience), [self-awareness](/source/Self-awareness), and [intentionality](/source/Intentionality) (the ability to have thoughts about something). These further features of consciousness may not be necessary for sentience, which is the capacity to feel sensations and emotions.[8]

### Consciousness

According to [Thomas Nagel](/source/Thomas_Nagel) in his paper "[What Is It Like to Be a Bat?](/source/What_Is_It_Like_to_Be_a_Bat%3F)", consciousness can refer to the ability of any entity to have subjective perceptual experiences, or as some philosophers refer to them, "[qualia](/source/Qualia)"—in other words, the ability to have states that it *feels like something* to be in.[9] Some philosophers, notably [Colin McGinn](/source/Colin_McGinn), believe that the physical process causing consciousness to happen will never be understood, a position known as "[new mysterianism](/source/New_mysterianism)". They do not deny that most other aspects of consciousness are subject to scientific investigation but they argue that qualia will never be explained.[10] Other philosophers, such as [Daniel Dennett](/source/Daniel_Dennett), argue that qualia is not a meaningful concept.[11]

Regarding [animal consciousness](/source/Animal_consciousness), in 2012 the [Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness](/source/Animal_consciousness#Cambridge_Declaration_on_Consciousness) stated that many non-human animals possess the substrates of conscious states, and can exhibit intentional behaviors.[\[a\]](#endnote_Anone) The declaration notes that all [vertebrates](/source/Vertebrate) (including fish and reptiles) have this neurological substrate for consciousness, and that there is strong evidence that many invertebrates also have it.[2]

Building on subsequent research, the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness was issued in 2024. Signed by over 500 scholars, the declaration affirms "strong scientific support" for consciousness in [mammals](/source/Mammal) and [birds](/source/Bird) and "at least a realistic possibility" of conscious experience in all [vertebrates](/source/Vertebrate) and in many [invertebrates](/source/Invertebrate) ("including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects"). The declaration goes beyond pure scientific description to make an ethical argument: that where a realistic possibility of conscious experience exists, it is irresponsible to disregard this in decisions affecting those animals.[12][13]

#### Phenomenal vs. affective consciousness

[David Chalmers](/source/David_Chalmers) argues that sentience is sometimes used as shorthand for *phenomenal consciousness*, the capacity to have any subjective experience at all, but sometimes refers to the narrower concept of *affective consciousness*, the capacity to experience subjective states that have affective valence (i.e., a positive or negative character), such as pain and pleasure.[14]

### Sentience quotient

The sentience quotient concept was introduced by [Robert A. Freitas Jr.](/source/Robert_A._Freitas_Jr.) in the late 1970s. It defines sentience as the relationship between the information processing rate of each individual processing unit (neuron), the weight/size of a single unit, and the total number of processing units (expressed as mass). It was proposed as a measure for the sentience of all living beings and computers from a single neuron up to a hypothetical being at the theoretical computational limit of the entire universe. On a [logarithmic scale](/source/Logarithmic_scale) it runs from −70 up to +50.[15]

## Eastern religions

See also: [Sentient beings (Buddhism)](/source/Sentient_beings_(Buddhism))

[Eastern religions](/source/Eastern_religions) including [Hinduism](/source/Hinduism), [Buddhism](/source/Buddhism), [Sikhism](/source/Sikhism), and [Jainism](/source/Jainism) recognise [non-humans](/source/Non-human) as sentient beings.[16] The term *sentient beings* is translated from various Sanskrit terms (*jantu, bahu jana, jagat, [sattva](/source/Sattva)*) and "conventionally refers to the mass of living things subject to illusion, suffering, and rebirth ([Saṃsāra](/source/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra))".[17] It is related to the concept of [ahimsa](/source/Ahimsa), non-violence toward other beings.[18]

In Jainism, many things are endowed with a soul, *[jīva](/source/J%C4%ABva_(Jainism))*, which is sometimes translated as 'sentience'.[19][20] Some things are without a soul, *[ajīva](/source/Ajiva)*, such as a chair or spoon.[21] There are different rankings of *jīva* based on the number of senses it has. Water, for example, is a sentient being of the first order, as it is considered to possess only one sense, that of touch.[22]

[Sentience in Buddhism](/source/Sentient_beings_(Buddhism)) is the state of having senses. In Buddhism, there are six senses, the sixth being the subjective experience of the mind. Sentience is simply awareness prior to the arising of [Skandha](/source/Skandha). Thus, an animal qualifies as a sentient being. According to Buddhism, sentient beings made of pure consciousness are possible. In [Mahayana](/source/Mahayana) Buddhism, which includes [Zen](/source/Zen) and [Tibetan Buddhism](/source/Tibetan_Buddhism), the concept is related to the [Bodhisattva](/source/Bodhisattva), an enlightened being devoted to the liberation of others. The first [vow](/source/Bodhisattva_vows) of a Bodhisattva states, "Sentient beings are numberless; I vow to free them." In traditional Tibetan Buddhism, plants, stones and other inanimate objects are described as possessing spiritual vitality or a form of 'sentience'.[23][24]

## Animal welfare, rights, and sentience

Main articles: [Animal rights by country or territory](/source/Animal_rights_by_country_or_territory), [Animal consciousness](/source/Animal_consciousness), [Animal cognition](/source/Animal_cognition), [Animal welfare](/source/Animal_welfare), [Animal rights](/source/Animal_rights), [Pain in animals](/source/Pain_in_animals), and [Sentientism](/source/Sentientism)

An [octopus](/source/Octopus) traveling with shells collected for protection. Despite evolving independently from humans for over 600 million years, octopuses show various signs of sentience.[25][26] Octopuses, along with all other [cephalopod](/source/Cephalopod) molluscs and [decapod crustaceans](/source/Decapod_crustaceans), were recognized as sentient by the United Kingdom in 2023.[27]

Sentience has been a central concept in the animal rights movement, tracing back to the well-known writing of [Jeremy Bentham](/source/Jeremy_Bentham) in *[An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation](/source/An_Introduction_to_the_Principles_of_Morals_and_Legislation)*: "The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?"

[Richard D. Ryder](/source/Richard_D._Ryder) defines [sentientism](/source/Sentientism) broadly as the position according to which an entity has moral status if and only if it is sentient.[28] In David Chalmer's more specific terminology, Bentham is a *narrow sentientist*, since his criterion for moral status is not only the ability to experience any phenomenal consciousness at all, but specifically the ability to experience conscious states with negative affective valence (i.e. suffering).[14] Animal welfare and rights advocates often invoke similar capacities. For example, the documentary *[Earthlings](/source/Earthlings_(film))* argues that while animals do not have all the desires and ability to comprehend as do humans, they do share the desires for food and water, shelter and companionship, freedom of movement and avoidance of pain.[29][\[b\]](#endnote_Bnone)

[Animal welfare](/source/Animal_welfare) advocates typically argue that sentient beings should be protected from unnecessary suffering, whereas [animal rights](/source/Animal_rights) advocates propose a set of basic rights for animals, such as the right to life, liberty, and freedom from suffering.[30]

[Gary Francione](/source/Gary_Francione) also bases his [abolitionist](/source/Abolitionism_(animal_rights)) theory of animal rights, which differs significantly from [Singer's](/source/Peter_Singer#Animal_liberation_and_speciesism), on sentience. He asserts that, "All sentient beings, humans or nonhuman, have one right: the basic right not to be treated as the property of others."[31]

[Andrew Linzey](/source/Andrew_Linzey), a British [theologian](/source/Theologian), considers that [Christianity](/source/Christianity) should regard sentient animals according to their intrinsic worth, rather than their utility to humans.[32]

In 1997 the concept of [animal sentience](/source/Animal_consciousness) was written into the basic law of the European Union. The legally binding protocol annexed to the [Treaty of Amsterdam](/source/Treaty_of_Amsterdam) recognises that animals are "sentient beings", and requires the EU and its member states to "pay full regards to the welfare requirements of animals".[33]

### Indicators of sentience

Experiments suggest that bees can display an optimistic mood, engage in playful behavior, and strategically avoid threats or harmful situations unless the reward is significant.[34]

[Nociception](/source/Nociception) is the process by which the [nervous system](/source/Nervous_system) detects and responds to potentially harmful stimuli, leading to the sensation of [pain](/source/Pain). It involves specialized receptors called [nociceptors](/source/Nociceptor) that sense damage or threat and send signals to the brain. Nociception is widespread among animals, even among insects.[35]

The presence of nociception indicates an organism's ability to detect harmful stimuli. A further question is whether the way these noxious stimuli are processed within the brain leads to a [subjective experience](/source/Subjective_experience) of pain.[35] To address that, researchers often look for behavioral cues. For example, "if a dog with an injured paw whimpers, licks the wound, limps, lowers pressure on the paw while walking, learns to avoid the place where the injury happened and seeks out analgesics when offered, we have reasonable grounds to assume that the dog is indeed experiencing something unpleasant." Avoiding painful stimuli unless the reward is significant can also provide evidence that pain avoidance is not merely an unconscious reflex (similarly to how humans "can choose to press a hot door handle to escape a burning building").[34]

### Sentient animals

Animals such as [pigs](/source/Pig), [chickens](/source/Chicken), and [fish](/source/Fish) are typically recognized as sentient. There is more uncertainty regarding [insects](/source/Insect), and findings on certain insect species may not be applicable to others.[35]

Historically, fish were not considered sentient, and their behaviors were often viewed as "reflexes or complex, unconscious species-typical responses" to their environment. Their dissimilarity with humans, including the absence of a direct equivalent of the [neocortex](/source/Neocortex) in their brain, was used as an argument against sentience.[36] [Jennifer Jacquet](/source/Jennifer_Jacquet) suggests that the belief that fish do not feel pain originated in response to a 1980s policy aimed at banning [catch and release](/source/Catch_and_release).[37] The range of animals regarded by scientists as sentient or conscious has progressively widened, now including animals such as fish, lobsters and octopus.[38]

## Digital sentience

Main article: [Artificial consciousness](/source/Artificial_consciousness)

Digital sentience (or artificial sentience) means the sentience of [artificial intelligences](/source/Artificial_intelligence). The question of whether artificial intelligences can be sentient is controversial.[39]

The AI research community does not consider sentience (that is, the "ability to feel sensations") as an important research goal, unless it can be shown that consciously "feeling" a sensation can make a machine more intelligent than just receiving input from sensors and processing it as information. [Stuart Russell](/source/Stuart_J._Russell) and [Peter Norvig](/source/Peter_Norvig) wrote in 2021: "We are interested in programs that behave intelligently. Individual aspects of consciousness—awareness, self-awareness, attention—can be programmed and can be part of an intelligent machine. The additional project making a machine conscious in exactly the way humans are is not one that we are equipped to take on."[40] Indeed, leading AI textbooks do not mention "sentience" at all.[41]

Digital sentience is of considerable interest to the [philosophy of mind](/source/Philosophy_of_mind). [Functionalist](/source/Functionalism_(philosophy_of_mind)) philosophers consider that sentience is about "causal roles" played by mental states, which involve information processing. In this view, the physical substrate of this information processing does not need to be biological, so there is no theoretical barrier to the possibility of sentient machines.[42] According to [type physicalism](/source/Type_physicalism) however, the physical constitution is important; and depending on the types of physical systems required for sentience, it may or may not be possible for certain types of machines (such as electronic computing devices) to be sentient.[43]

The discussion on the topic of alleged sentience of artificial intelligence has been reignited in 2022 by the claims made about [Google](/source/Google)'s [LaMDA](/source/LaMDA) ([Language Model](/source/Language_model) for Dialogue Applications) artificial intelligence system that it is "sentient" and had a "[soul](/source/Soul)".[44] LaMDA is an [artificial intelligence system](/source/Artificial_Intelligence_System) that creates [chatbots](/source/Chatbot)—AI robots designed to communicate with humans—by gathering vast amounts of text from the internet and using [algorithms](/source/Algorithm) to respond to queries in the most fluid and natural way possible. The transcripts of conversations between scientists and LaMDA reveal that the AI system excels at this, providing answers to challenging topics about the nature of [emotions](/source/Emotion), generating [Aesop](/source/Aesop's_Fables)-style fables on cue, and even describing its alleged fears.[45]

[Nick Bostrom](/source/Nick_Bostrom) considers that while LaMDA is probably not sentient, being very sure of it would require understanding how consciousness works, having access to unpublished information about LaMDA's architecture, and finding how to apply the philosophical theory to the machine.[46] He also said about LLMs that "it's not doing them justice to say they're simply regurgitating text", noting that they "exhibit glimpses of creativity, insight and understanding that are quite impressive and may show the rudiments of reasoning". He thinks that "sentience is a matter of degree".[39]

In 2022, philosopher [David Chalmers](/source/David_Chalmers) made a speech on whether [large language models](/source/Large_language_model) (LLMs) can be conscious, encouraging more research on the subject. He suggested that current LLMs were probably not conscious, but that the limitations are temporary and that future systems could be serious candidates for consciousness.[47]

According to [Jonathan Birch](/source/Jonathan_Birch_(philosopher)), "measures to regulate the development of sentient AI should run ahead of what would be proportionate to the risks posed by current technology, considering also the risks posed by credible future trajectories." He is concerned that AI sentience would be particularly easy to deny, and that if achieved, humans might nevertheless continue to treat AI systems as mere tools. He notes that the linguistic behaviour of LLMs is not a reliable way to assess whether they are sentient. He suggests to apply theories of consciousness, such as the [global workspace theory](/source/Global_workspace_theory), to the algorithms implicitly learned by LLMs, but noted that this technique requires advances in [AI interpretability](/source/AI_interpretability) to understand what happens inside. He also mentions some other pathways that may lead to AI sentience, such as the [brain emulation](/source/Brain_emulation) of sentient animals.[48]

## See also

- [Blindsight](/source/Blindsight)

- [Binding problem](/source/Binding_problem)

- [Causality](/source/Causality)

- [Ethics of uncertain sentience](/source/Ethics_of_uncertain_sentience)

- [Explanatory gap](/source/Explanatory_gap)

- [Hard problem of consciousness](/source/Hard_problem_of_consciousness)

- [Ideasthesia](/source/Ideasthesia)

- [Mind–body problem](/source/Mind%E2%80%93body_problem)

- [Mirror test](/source/Mirror_test)

- [Omniscience](/source/Omniscience)

- [Pain in invertebrates](/source/Pain_in_invertebrates)

- [Philosophical zombie](/source/Philosophical_zombie)

- [Philosophy of mind](/source/Philosophy_of_mind)

- [Problem of other minds](/source/Problem_of_other_minds)

- [Solipsism](/source/Solipsism)

- [Turing test](/source/Turing_test)

- [Vertiginous question](/source/Vertiginous_question)

- [Wisdom](/source/Wisdom)

## Notes

**a.** [**^**](#ref_Anone) Quote: "The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states. Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors. Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Non-human animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neurological substrates."[2]

**b.** [**^**](#ref_Bnone) Quote: "Granted, these animals do not have all the desires we humans have; granted, they do not comprehend everything we humans comprehend; nevertheless, we and they do have some of the same desires and do comprehend some of the same things. The desires for food and water, shelter and companionship, freedom of movement and avoidance of pain."[29]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Birch, Jonathan (2021-05-16). ["Which animals should be considered sentient in the eyes of the law?"](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/16/animals-feel-humans-evidence-sentient). *The Guardian*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0261-3077](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved 2024-06-09.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Low_2012_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Low_2012_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Low_2012_2-2) Low, Philip (7 July 2012). ["The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness"](http://fcmconference.org/img/CambridgeDeclarationOnConsciousness.pdf) (PDF). *FCM Conference*. Cambridge University. Retrieved 5 August 2020. it is indisputable that all vertebrates, including fish and reptiles do possess the neurological substrates of [consciousness](/source/Phenomenal_consciousness), and that there is further very strong evidence to support that invertebrates, including but not limited to decapod crustaceans, cephalopod mollusks, and insects, also do

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Definition of SENTIENT"](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentient). *Merriam Webster Dictionary*. 2024-07-18. Retrieved 2024-07-21.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Birch, Jonathan (2024-08-15). [*The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI*](https://academic.oup.com/book/57949) (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 1. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/9780191966729.001.0001](https://doi.org/10.1093%2F9780191966729.001.0001). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-196672-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-196672-9).

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Shermer, Michael (2018-07-01). ["Will Science Ever Solve the Mysteries of Consciousness, Free Will and God?"](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-science-ever-solve-the-mysteries-of-consciousness-free-will-and-god/). *Scientific American*. Retrieved 2024-03-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Ramsey, William (2013). ["Eliminative Materialism"](http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2013/entries/materialism-eliminative/). In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). *The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy* (Summer 2013 ed.). Stanford University. Retrieved 19 June 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Falk, Dan (2024-04-19). ["Insects and Other Animals Have Consciousness, Experts Declare"](https://www.quantamagazine.org/insects-and-other-animals-have-consciousness-experts-declare-20240419/). *Quanta Magazine*. Retrieved 2026-02-21.

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1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Chalmers_2020_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Chalmers_2020_14-1) Massimo Pigliucci, David Chalmers (Dec 18, 2020). [*Philosophy Day 2020: David Chalmers - Consciousness and moral status*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP3ReZHGn7E) (YouTube). Figs in Winter. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211031/ZP3ReZHGn7E) from the original on 2021-10-31. Retrieved Sep 12, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Freitas, R.A. Jr. (April 1984). ["Xenopsychology"](https://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/Xenopsychology.htm). *[Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact](/source/Analog_Science_Fiction%2FScience_Fact)*. **104**: 41–53.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Shanta, Bhakti Niskama (September–October 2015). ["Life and consciousness – The Vedāntic view"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4802748). *Communicative & Integrative Biology*. **8** (5) e1085138. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/19420889.2015.1085138](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F19420889.2015.1085138). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [4802748](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4802748). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [27066168](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27066168). 27066168.

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["ahimsa"](https://www.britannica.com/topic/ahimsa). *Britannica*. Retrieved 2024-03-10.

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Ray, Reginald A. (2002). *Indestructible truth: the living spirituality of Tibetan Buddhism*. World of Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala. pp. 26–27. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-57062-910-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-57062-910-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Henriques, Martha (25 July 2022). ["The mysterious inner life of the octopus"](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220720-do-octopuses-feel-pain). *BBC*. Retrieved 2024-06-29.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** [Birch, Jonathan](/source/Jonathan_Birch_(philosopher)); Burn, Charlotte; Schnell, Alexandra; Browning, Heather; Crump, Andrew (November 2021). ["Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans"](https://www.lse.ac.uk/News/News-Assets/PDFs/2021/Sentience-in-Cephalopod-Molluscs-and-Decapod-Crustaceans-Final-Report-November-2021.pdf) (PDF). *The London School of Economics and Political Science*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Ho Tran, Tony (2021-11-23). ["United Kingdom Declares Octopuses, Squids Are Sentient Beings"](https://futurism.com/the-byte/united-kingdom-octopus-sentient). *Futurism*. Retrieved 2024-06-29.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Ryder, Richard D. (1991). ["Souls and Sentientism"](https://doi.org/10.15368%2Fbts.1991v7n1.1). *Between the Species*. **7** (1): Article 3. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.15368/bts.1991v7n1.1](https://doi.org/10.15368%2Fbts.1991v7n1.1).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Monson_2005_29-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Monson_2005_29-1) Monson S (2005), "Earthlings".

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** ["Animal Rights: Overview"](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/animal-rights-overview). *EBSCO*. 2024. Retrieved 2025-05-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** Francione, Gary. [Official blog](http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/?page_id=52)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** ["BBC - Religions - Christianity: Animal rights"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/animals_1.shtml). *www.bbc.co.uk*. 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2024-03-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** ["The Lisbon Treaty: recognising animal sentience"](https://www.ciwf.org.uk/news/2009/12/the-lisbon-treaty-recognising-animal-sentience). *CIWF*. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 2024-03-10.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Chittka_2023_34-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Chittka_2023_34-1) Chittka, Lars (2023-07-01). ["Do Insects Feel Joy and Pain?"](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-insects-feel-joy-and-pain/). *Scientific American*. Retrieved 2024-06-08.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Reynolds_2023_35-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Reynolds_2023_35-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Reynolds_2023_35-2) Reynolds, Matt. ["Insect Farming Is Booming. But Is It Cruel?"](https://www.wired.com/story/insect-farming-sentience/). *Wired*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1059-1028](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1059-1028). Retrieved 2024-06-06.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** Woodruff, Michael (3 July 2020). ["Fish are nothing like us, except that they are sentient beings"](https://aeon.co/essays/fish-are-nothing-like-us-except-that-they-are-sentient-beings). *Aeon*. Retrieved 2024-06-08.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** ["Do fish feel emotions? Experts weigh in on the ethics of fish farming"](https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/06/25/fish-have-feelings-too-why-animal-sentience-means-we-should-rethink-food). *euronews*. 2023-06-25. Retrieved 2024-06-08.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** ["Scientists push new paradigm of animal consciousness, saying even insects may be sentient"](https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/animal-consciousness-scientists-push-new-paradigm-rcna148213). *NBC News*. 2024-04-19. Retrieved 2024-06-08.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Jackson_2023_39-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Jackson_2023_39-1) Jackson, Lauren (2023-04-12). ["What if A.I. Sentience Is a Question of Degree?"](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/12/world/artificial-intelligence-nick-bostrom.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0362-4331](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2023-06-23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTERussellNorvig2021986_40-0)** [Russell & Norvig 2021](#CITEREFRussellNorvig2021), p. 986.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-41)** Leading AI textbooks in 2023: - [Russell, Stuart J.](/source/Stuart_J._Russell); [Norvig, Peter](/source/Peter_Norvig) (2021). *[Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach](/source/Artificial_Intelligence%3A_A_Modern_Approach)* (4th ed.). Hoboken: Pearson. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-13-461099-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-13-461099-3). [LCCN](/source/LCCN_(identifier)) [20190474](https://lccn.loc.gov/20190474). - [Rich, Elaine](/source/Elaine_Rich); Knight, Kevin; Nair, Shivashankar B (1 January 2010). *Artificial Intelligence* (3rd ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill India. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-07-008770-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-07-008770-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-42)** Manzotti, Riccardo; Chella, Antonio (2018). ["Good Old-Fashioned Artificial Consciousness and the Intermediate Level Fallacy"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7805708). *Frontiers in Robotics and AI*. **5** 39. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.3389/frobt.2018.00039](https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffrobt.2018.00039). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [2296-9144](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/2296-9144). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [7805708](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7805708). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [33500925](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33500925).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-43)** Searle, John R. (1980). ["Minds, brains, and programs"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071210043312/http://members.aol.com/NeoNoetics/MindsBrainsPrograms.html). *Behavioral and Brain Sciences*. **3** (3): 417–424. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/S0140525X00005756](https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0140525X00005756). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1469-1825](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1469-1825). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [55303721](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:55303721). Archived from [the original](http://members.aol.com/NeoNoetics/MindsBrainsPrograms.html) on 2007-12-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-44)** Brandon Specktor published (2022-06-13). ["Google AI 'is sentient,' software engineer claims before being suspended"](https://www.livescience.com/google-sentient-ai-lamda-lemoine). *livescience.com*. Retrieved 2022-06-14.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** Lemoine, Blake (2022-06-11). ["Is LaMDA Sentient? — an Interview"](https://cajundiscordian.medium.com/is-lamda-sentient-an-interview-ea64d916d917). *Medium*. Retrieved 2022-06-14.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-46)** Leith, Sam (2022-07-07). ["Nick Bostrom: How can we be certain a machine isn't conscious?"](https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/nick-bostrom-how-can-we-be-certain-a-machine-isnt-conscious/). *The Spectator*. Retrieved 2023-06-23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** Chalmers, David (August 9, 2023). ["Could a Large Language Model Be Conscious?"](https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/could-a-large-language-model-be-conscious/). *Boston Review*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-48)** Birch, Jonathan (19 July 2024). "Part V: preparing for artificial sentience". [*The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI*](https://academic.oup.com/book/57949). Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/9780191966729.001.0001](https://doi.org/10.1093%2F9780191966729.001.0001). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-196672-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-196672-9).

## Further reading

- [Birch, Jonathan](/source/Jonathan_Birch_(philosopher)) (2024). [*The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI*](https://academic.oup.com/book/57949). Oxford University Press.

- Sugunasiri, Suwanda H.J., The Whole Body, not Heart, as 'Seat of Consciousness': the Buddha's View', Philosophy East & West, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 409–430). Prof. Sugunasiri is Founder of Nalanda College of Buddhist Studies, Toronto, Canada

- [Bentham, Jeremy](/source/Jeremy_Bentham) (1789). [*An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation*](https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/bentham1780.pdf) (PDF).

- [Book about A Theory of Sentience](https://web.archive.org/web/20060923170322/http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780198238515) Readership: Philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists interested in sensation and perception. Authors, Austen Clark, Professor of Philosophy, University of Connecticut, Storrs

- [Science, policy and cultural implications of animal sentience, Suggested Reading, Compassion in World Farming](https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/3816923/stop-look-listen.pdf)

- Knight, Sam (2023). ["Hive Mind: Is beekeeping wrong?"](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/is-beekeeping-wrong). *The New Yorker*.

v t e Animal welfare Issues Abandoned pets Animal husbandry Animal testing Animals in sport Antibiotic use in livestock Artificial insemination Barn fire Battery cage Beak trimming Bile bear Blood sports Bullfighting Captivity Calf hutch Cannibalism in poultry Chick culling Culling Cockfighting Concentrated animal feeding operation Cow-calf separation Cribbing (horse) Cruelty to animals Dairy farming Docking Dog fighting Discretionary invasive procedures on animals Eating live animals Eating live seafood Eyestalk ablation Feather-plucking Feedback (pork industry) Fire Bull festival Toro de fuego Toro embolado Foam depopulation Foie gras controversy Forced molting Force-feeding Fur farming Gestation crate Hunting Hock burns Horse pain caused by the bit Intensive animal farming Intensive pig farming Lameness (equine) Livestock branding Livestock dehorning Livestock transportation Pet rental Poultry farming Puppy mill Roadkill Sentience Stable vices Stereotypy (non-human) Testing cosmetics on animals Ventilation shutdown Vivisection Weaving (horse) Welfare of farmed insects Wild animal welfare Wildlife farming Zoos Concepts Abnormal behaviours in animals Animal psychopathology Animal shelter Animal welfare science Anthrozoology Behavioral enrichment Better Chicken Commitment Bioethics Compassionate conservation Conservation welfare Ethics of uncertain sentience Ethical omnivorism Five Domains model Five Freedoms Humane law enforcement Intrinsic value in animal ethics Rescue group RSPCA Assured Three Rs principles Welfare biology Pain Pain in amphibians Pain in cephalopods Pain in crustaceans Pain in fish Pain in invertebrates Grimace scale Organisations ASPCA American Humane Education Society American Humane Society Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society Animal Defenders International Animal Welfare Committee Animal Welfare Party Animals' Friend Society Animal Aid Unlimited Animal Welfare Board of India Animal Welfare Institute Animal Welfare Investigations Project Badger Trust Band of Mercy Battersea Best Friends Animal Society Blue Cross Blue Cross of India Care for the Wild International Cats Protection Compassion in World Farming CAWF Cinnamon Trust Dogs Trust DSPA DSPCA Eurogroup for Animals Four Paws FRAME Humane Canada Humane Farm Animal Care HSUS Humane Society International Humane Slaughter Association Humanitarian League International Animal Rescue IFAW International Society for Applied Ethology ISPCA League Against Cruel Sports Legal Impact for Chickens Mercy For Animals National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports Network for Animals Lord Dowding Fund for Humane Research MSPCA-Angell National Animal Welfare Trust National Anti-Vivisection Society OneKind Order of the Golden Age Party for Animal Welfare People for Animals People's Dispensary for Sick Animals RNZSPCA RSPCA RSPCA Australia Save Me Scottish Animal Welfare Commission SSPCA The Humane League Tiggywinkles UFAW Wildlife Aid Foundation World Animal Protection World Horse Welfare Publications Animal Welfare Cruel Sports Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science Our Dumb Animals Books Remarks on Cruelty to Animals (1795) A Few Notes on Cruelty to Animals (1846) Some Remarks on Cruelty to Animals, and the Principles in Human Nature from which That Vice Proceeds (1865) Black Beauty (1877) An Essay on Humanity to Animals (1878) The Cost of a Skin (1907) Animal Machines (1964) Animal Liberation (1975) Diet for a New America (1987) Striking at the Roots (2007) The Edge of Sentience (2024) Categories Animal advocacy parties Animal killing Animal rights Animal welfare and rights legislation Animal welfare in sports Animal sacrifice Animal sanctuaries Animal testing Animal welfare and rights by country Cruelty to animals Dishes involving the consumption of live animals Ethically disputed business practices towards animals Fur trade Pain in animals People associated with animal welfare Vivisection Whaling Religious considerations Dhabihah Jhatka Kutha Shechita Tza'ar ba'alei chayim Rituals and festivals Blessing of animals Bous al carrer Cock throwing Combat de Reines Eid al-Adha Gadhimai festival Goat throwing Goose pulling International Primate Day Kapparot Dog Meat Festival Monkey Buffet Festival Monkey Day October Horse Pushkar Camel Fair Rapa das Bestas of Sabucedo Running of the bulls Surin Elephant Round-up Toro embolado World Animal Day World Wildlife Day Legislation Animal testing regulations Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (UK) Animal Welfare Act 1999 (NZ) Animal Welfare Act 2006 (UK) Animal Welfare Act of 1966 (US) Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 (UK) Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 (UK) EU Directive 2010/63/EU (EU) EU Directive 1999/74/EC (EU) Horse Protection Act of 1970 (US) Hunting Act 2004 (UK) Philippine Animal Welfare Act 1998 (Philippines) Related Animal–industrial complex Humanitarian movement List of animal rights advocates List of animal sanctuaries People in animal welfare Category

v t e Animal rights Topics (overviews, concepts, issues, cases) Overviews Movement History (Ancient world) Timeline Europe United States By country or territory Argentina Australia Austria Azerbaijan Brazil Canada China Denmark Ethiopia France Germany Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Israel Italy Japan Malaysia Mexico Netherlands Russia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom United States Anarchism Punk subculture Religion Christianity Indian religions Islam Human uses of animals Women Concepts Abolitionism Ahimsa Animal cognition Animal consciousness Animal exploitation Animal-free agriculture Animal–industrial complex Animal law Animal machine Animal protectionism Animal resistance Animal trial Animal welfare Animal worship Anthropocentrism Argument from marginal cases Bioethics Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness Carnism Equal consideration of interests Emotion in animals Ethics of eating meat Ethics of uncertain sentience Holocaust analogy Insects in ethics Intrinsic value Meat paradox Mentophobia Moral circle expansion New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness Nonkilling Nonviolence Open rescue Opposition to hunting Painism Personism Personhood Replaceability argument Sentientism Speciesism Total liberation Vegaphobia Veganism Vegetarianism Issues Animal husbandry Animal product Animal husbandry Battery cage Bile bear CAFOs Chick culling Crocodiles Cow-calf separation Feedback Fish Foam depopulation Foie gras controversy Force-feeding Fur Fur trade Hock burns Insects Intensive Livestock Live export Pigs Poultry Slaughter Slaughterhouse Ventilation shutdown Wildlife Blood sport Badger-baiting Bear-baiting Boar-baiting Bull-baiting Donkey-baiting Duck-baiting Hog-baiting Human-baiting Hyena-baiting Lion-baiting Monkey-baiting Rat-baiting Wolf-baiting Cruelty Pest control (Varmint hunting) Sacrifice Working animal Animal testing Alternatives Cosmetics Green Scare (Operation Backfire) History Model organism Organizations Huntingdon Life Sciences Nafovanny Regulations Countries banning non-human ape experimentation Non-human primates Vivisection (Anti-vivisection movement) Animal welfare Abandoned pets Animal-borne bomb attacks Bullfighting Captivity Euthanasia (insects) Farmed insects Killing of animals Live food Pain Amphibians Cephalopods Crustaceans Fish Invertebrates Laboratory animals Sports Fishing Bait Commercial Farming Recreational Wild animals Culling Farming Hunting Techniques Coursing Spotlighting Trail hunting Trapping Treeing Trophy hunting Upland hunting Animals Alligators Bats Bears Birds Bison Boar Deer Dolphins Foxes Hares Jackals Lions Mink Petrels Quail Rabbit Raccoons Rooks Seals Squirrels Tigers Turtles Waterfowl Whales Wild birds Wolves Management Predation problem Suffering Trade Primates Ivory Welfare Cases Brown Dog affair Cambridge University primates McLibel case Monkey selfie copyright dispute Pit of despair SHAC Silver Spring monkeys University of California, Riverside 1985 laboratory raid Unnecessary Fuss War of the currents Studies Animal ethics Anthrozoology Critical animal studies Ethology Vegan studies Methodologies Direct Action Everywhere Hunt sabotage Observances World Animal Day World Day for Farmed Animals World Day for Laboratory Animals World Day for the End of Fishing World Day for the End of Speciesism World Vegan Day World Vegetarian Day Monuments and memorials Emily the Cow Monument to the laboratory mouse Advocates (academics, writers, activists) Academics and writers Contemporary Carol J. Adams Aysha Akhtar Kristin Andrews Marc Bekoff Steven Best Paola Cavalieri Stephen R. L. Clark Alasdair Cochrane J. M. Coetzee Alice Crary David DeGrazia Daniel Dombrowski Sue Donaldson Josephine Donovan Joan Dunayer Mylan Engel Catia Faria Lawrence Finsen Michael W. Fox Gary L. Francione Robert Garner Valéry Giroux Lori Gruen John Hadley Oscar Horta Dale Jamieson Kyle Johannsen Melanie Joy Hilda Kean Christine Korsgaard Will Kymlicka Renan Larue Thomas Lepeltier Andrew Linzey Clair Linzey Dan Lyons David Nibert Martha Nussbaum Clare Palmer Charles Patterson David Pearce Jessica Pierce Evelyn Pluhar Mark Rowlands Richard D. Ryder Steve F. Sapontzis Jeff Sebo Jérôme Segal Peter Singer Gary Steiner Cass Sunstein David Sztybel Michael Tye Bernard Unti Tatjana Višak Paul Waldau Corey Lee Wrenn Historical Tom Beauchamp Jeremy Bentham David Renaud Boullier Stephen St. C. Bostock Brigid Brophy Peter Buchan Mona Caird Sherry Colb Priscilla Cohn Henry Crowe Herman Daggett Richard Dean Wilhelm Dietler William Hamilton Drummond Edward Payson Evans T. Forster John Galsworthy Thomas G. Gentry Arthur Helps John Hildrop V. A. Holmes-Gore John Zephaniah Holwell Francis Hutcheson Soame Jenyns Marie Jungius Karl Christian Friedrich Krause John Lawrence Charles R. Magel Jean Meslier Mary Midgley J. Howard Moore José Ferrater Mora Robert Morris Leonard Nelson Edward Nicholson Siobhan O'Sullivan John Oswald Rod Preece Humphrey Primatt James Rachels Tom Regan Joseph Ritson Nathaniel Peabody Rogers Bernard Rollin Henry Stephens Salt Arthur Schopenhauer Laurids Smith John Styles Thomas Tryon Gary Varner Voltaire Johann Friedrich Ludwig Volckmann Mary Anne Warren Adam Gottlieb Weigen Johann Heinrich Winckler Steven M. 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Amos Bob Barker Diana Belais Ernest Bell Anna Briggs William Brown Edith Carrington Frances Power Cobbe Joseph Collinson Joan Court Karen Davis Savitri Devi Royal Dixon Muriel Dowding Elizabeth Farians Peter Freeman Emarel Freshel André Géraud Lewis Gompertz James Granger Joseph Morse Greene Lizzy Lind af Hageby Florence Henniker Barry Horne Marie Huot R. H. Jude Flora Kibbe Jessie Mackay Malvina Mehrn Alfred Mansfield Mitchell Philip G. Peabody J. Isaac Pengelly Norm Phelps Jill Phipps Maud Ingersoll Probasco Hans Ruesch Magnus Schwantje Nell Shipman Henry Spira Joseph Stratton Andrew Tyler Gretchen Wyler Movement (groups, parties) Groups Contemporary American Anti-Vivisection Society Animal Aid Animal Ethics Animal Justice Animal Justice Project Animal Legal Defense Fund Animal Liberation Animal Liberation Front Animal Liberation Press Office Animal Liberation Victoria Animal Rights Militia Animal Rising AnimaNaturalis Anonymous for the Voiceless Anti-Vivisection Coalition Beauty Without Cruelty Born Free Foundation Centre for Animals and Social Justice Chinese Animal Protection Network Cruelty Free International Direct Action Everywhere Doctors Against Animal Experiments Equanimal Every Animal Farm Animal Rights Movement Faunalytics Great Ape Project Hunt Saboteurs Association In Defense of Animals Korea Animal Rights Advocates L214 Last Chance for Animals Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition Mercy for Animals Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Revolutionary Cells – Animal Liberation Brigade Rise for Animals Sentience Politics Uncaged Campaigns United Activists for Animal Rights United Poultry Concerns UPF-Centre for Animal Ethics Viva! Voice for Animals Humane Society Voiceless Historical Canadian Anti-Vivisection Society Church Anti-Vivisection League Humanitarian League (1891–1919) Millennium Guild Oxford Group Parties Animal Justice Party (Australia) Animal Justice Party of Finland (Finland) Animal Politics EU (Europe) Animal Protection Party of Canada (Canada) Animalist Movement (Italy) Animalist Party with the Environment (Spain) Animals' Party (Sweden) DierAnimal (Belgium) Human Environment Animal Protection Party (Germany) Italian Animalist Party (Italy) Party for the Animals (Netherlands) Peace for Animals (Netherlands) People Animals Nature (Portugal) V-Partei³ (Germany) Activism Animal Rights National Conference Media (books, films, periodicals, albums) Books On Abstinence from Eating Animals (3rd century) The Way to Health, Long Life and Happiness (1683) A Reasonable Plea for the Animal Creation (1746) A System of Moral Philosophy, in Three Books (1755) The Cry of Nature; or, An Appeal to Mercy and to Justice, on Behalf of the Persecuted Animals (1791) An Essay on Humanity to Animals (1798) An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, as a Moral Duty (1802) Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824) The Rights of Animals (1838) The Ethics of Diet (1883) A Plea for Vegetarianism and Other Essays (1886) Animals' Rights: Considered in Relation to Social Progress (1892) Evolutional Ethics and Animal Psychology (1897) Better-World Philosophy (1899) The Logic of Vegetarianism (1899) The Universal Kinship (1906) The New Ethics (1907) The Humanities of Diet (1914) Animals, Men and Morals (1971) Animal Liberation (1975) The Case for Animal Rights (1983) Morals, Reason, and Animals (1987) Zoos and Animal Rights (1993) Animals, Property, and the Law (1995) The Lives of Animals (1999) Eternal Treblinka (2001) Do Animals Have Rights? (2005) Striking at the Roots (2008) An American Trilogy (2009) An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory (2010) Animal Rights Without Liberation (2012) Political Animals and Animal Politics (2014) Animal (De)liberation (2016) Beating Hearts: Abortion and Animal Rights (2016) Sentientist Politics (2018) Wild Animal Ethics (2020) Animal Ethics in the Wild (2022) Making a Stand for Animals (2022) Animal Rights Law (2023) The Moral Circle (2025) Films The Animals Film (1981) A Cow at My Table (1998) Shores of Silence (2000) The Witness (2000) Meet Your Meat (2002) Legally Blonde 2 (2003) The Meatrix (2003) Peaceable Kingdom (2004) Earthlings (2005) Behind the Mask (2006) Your Mommy Kills Animals (2007) Food, Inc. (2009) The Cove (2009) Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home (2009) Forks Over Knives (2011) Vegucated (2011) An Apology to Elephants (2013) Speciesism: The Movie (2013) The Ghosts in Our Machine (2013) Unlocking the Cage (2016) Land of Hope and Glory (2017) Carnage (2017) Okja (2017) Dominion (2018) Seaspiracy (2021) Periodicals Journals Animal Sentience Between the Species Cahiers antispécistes Etica & Animali Journal of Animal Ethics Relations. Beyond Anthropocentrism Magazines Arkangel Bite Back Muutoksen kevät No Compromise Satya Albums Animal Liberation (1987) Tame Yourself (1991) Manifesto (2008) Onward to Freedom (2014) Salvation of Innocents (2014) Fairs and exhibitions Holocaust on your Plate (2003) Category ( 139 )

v t e Consciousness Figures Philosophy Alfred North Whitehead Arthur Schopenhauer Baruch Spinoza Bertrand Russell Brian O'Shaughnessy Charles Augustus Strong Christopher Peacocke Colin McGinn Daniel Dennett David Chalmers David Hume David Papineau David Pearce Donald Davidson Douglas Hofstadter Edmund Husserl Frank Jackson Fred Dretske Galen Strawson George Berkeley George Henry Lewes Georges Rey Gottfried Leibniz Immanuel Kant Jean-Paul Sartre John Eccles John Locke John Polkinghorne John Searle Joseph Levine Karl Popper Keith Frankish Kenneth M. Sayre Maurice Merleau-Ponty Max Velmans Michael Tye Martin Heidegger Ned Block Patricia Churchland Paul Churchland Philip Goff René Descartes Thomas Metzinger Thomas Nagel William Kingdon Clifford William Lycan William Seager Psychology Carl Gustav Jung Donald D. Hoffman Franz Brentano Gustav Fechner Julian Jaynes Kurt Koffka Max Wertheimer Sigmund Freud Wilhelm Wundt William James Wolfgang Köhler Neuroscience Anil Seth Antonio Damasio Benjamin Libet Bernard Baars Christof Koch Francis Crick Francisco Varela Gerald Edelman Giulio Tononi Karl Pribram Lawrence Weiskrantz Michael Gazzaniga Michael Graziano Patrick Wilken Roger Sperry Stanislas Dehaene Steven Laureys Stuart Hameroff Wolf Singer Others Annaka Harris David Bohm Eugene Wigner Erwin Schrödinger Marvin Minsky Max Planck Roger Penrose Susan Blackmore Victor J. Stenger Wolfgang Pauli Theories Philosophy of mind Anomalous monism Computationalism Double-aspect theory Eliminative materialism Emergentism Epiphenomenalism Functionalism Idealism Interactionism Materialism Mind–body dualism Monism Neutral monism New mysterianism Nondualism Panpsychism Parallelism Physicalism Property dualism Reflexive monism Revisionary materialism Solipsism Type physicalism (reductive materialism, identity theory) Science Attention schema theory Consciousness causes collapse Dynamic core hypothesis Damasio's theory of consciousness Electromagnetic theories of consciousness Global workspace theory Higher-order theories of consciousness Holonomic brain theory Integrated information theory Lamme's recurrent feedback hypothesis Multiple drafts model Orchestrated objective reduction Topics Agnosia Altered state of consciousness Animal consciousness Artificial consciousness Attention Attentional control Awareness Binding problem Binocular rivalry Blindsight Brain Cartesian theater Consciousness after death Disorders of consciousness Divided consciousness Dual consciousness (split-brain) Experience Explanatory gap Free will Flash suppression Hallucination Hard problem of consciousness Heterophenomenology Higher consciousness Illusion Introspection illusion Knowledge argument Locked-in syndrome Mind Mind–body problem Minimally conscious state Neural correlates of consciousness Neurophenomenology Ontology Phenomenology Philosophical zombie Philosophy of mind Primary consciousness Problem of other minds Qualia Quantum mind Reentry Sakshi Purusha Secondary consciousness Sentience Sentientism Sociology of human consciousness Soul Stream of consciousness Subconscious Subjective character of experience Subjectivity and objectivity Unconscious mind Unconsciousness Upanishads Visual masking Consciousness causes collapse Yogachara Works A Universe of Consciousness Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness Consciousness and Cognition Consciousness Explained Cosmic Consciousness How the Self Controls Its Brain Journal of Consciousness Studies Online Consciousness Conference Psyche The Astonishing Hypothesis The Conscious Mind The Emperor's New Mind The Science of Consciousness Understanding Consciousness "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" Wider than the Sky Category Commons

[Portals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents/Portals):
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**Sentience** at Wikipedia's [sister projects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikimedia_sister_projects):

- [**Definitions**](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sentience) from Wiktionary

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