Animal consciousness debate

Many researchers now agree that animal consciousness is more common than once believed. One of the leading animal sentience researchers is LSE Philosophy Professor Jonathan Birch. His research is often met with scepticism from inside and outside the Philosophy world. However, he sometimes is a reasonable sceptic himself.

In our latest blog post, Jonathan Birch gives insights into his inner dialogue with his own sceptic.

The idea that many other animals have conscious experiences, including all vertebrates and many invertebrates, is far less controversial in science than it used to be. In truth, I’m not sure it was ever all that controversial in the rest of society.

Animal Consciousness - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

In my experience, people do not seriously doubt the sentience of their pets, whether the pet in question is a dog, cat, iguana, fish, or tarantula. On this issue, scientific opinion seems to be moving into closer alignment Why is animal consciousness controversial? | Philosophy ... QUQ