Walking Along the Edge of Sentience [A Review of Jonathan Birch’s „The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI”, New York: Oxford University Press, 2024] Cover Image

Spacer wzdłuż granicy doznania. [Recenzja książki Jonathana Bircha „The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI”, New York: Oxford University Press, 2024]
Walking Along the Edge of Sentience [A Review of Jonathan Birch’s „The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI”, New York: Oxford University Press, 2024]

Author(s): Marcin Urbaniak
Subject(s): Psychology, Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Cognitive Psychology, Welfare services, Book-Review
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: feeling; sentience; sentient; experience; perception; animal mind; animal cognition; animal welfare

Summary/Abstract: Constant disputes concerning the concept of sentience result from an extremely difficult topic of considerations, which is the comparative approach to the experiences, conscious states and cognitive processes of humans and non-human animals. There is a lack of interdisciplinary agreed positions on which cognitive systems we consider to be already sentient and which not yet. As a result, significant differences appear in the analyses and definitions of the sentience phenomenon. Scientists and experimenters have not developed a single, common explanation of the phenomenon of sentience which would include philosophical reflection, neurobiological experiments and psychological observations. A brilliant answer to all the above problems is Jonathan Birch’s book. It contains not only in-depth analyses of various positions on sentience, but also references to real political actions and everyday consumer practices.

  • Issue Year: 1/2025
  • Issue No: 15
  • Page Range: 1-9
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Polish
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