Citation
Woodruff, Michael L. (2020) Whether invertebrates are sentient matters to bioethics and science policy. Animal Sentience 29(16)
Thread
Irina Mikhalevich and Russell Powell, Minds without spines: Evolutionarily inclusive animal ethics
Abstract
Mikhalevich & Powell provide convincing empirical evidence that at least some invertebrates are sentient and hence should be granted moral status. I agree and argue that functional markers should be the primary indicators of sentience. Neuroanatomical homologies provide only secondary evidence. Consensus regarding the validity of these functional markers will be difficult to achieve. To be effective in practice, functional markers of sentience will have to be tested and accepted species by species to overcome the implicit biases against extending moral status to invertebrates.
DOI
10.51291/2377-7478.1600
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Applied Ethics Commons, Behavioral Neurobiology Commons, Cognitive Neuroscience Commons, Comparative Psychology Commons, Philosophy of Mind Commons