Sentientism

Lisa is an activist and academic who specialises in anymal and environmental ethics. She was an associate professor of philosophy and religion at Montana State University Billings until she retired in 2020 to found and lead the educational, vegan umbrella organization, Tapestry. Lisa is the author or editor of ten books including Animals and World Religions. She has also written over 100 articles and book chapters. Lisa coined the term anymal as a “correct” term for non-human animals. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:28 Lisa's Intro 01:58 What's Real? - Linking epistemology & ethics - "My mind sees a continuum" - Being born with "a more eastern way of thinking" - Metaphysical & practical concerns - "I don't tend to use philosophy in an abstract way" - "I have very little faith in human reasoning... we are not rational beings." - Descartes reasoning that anymals aren't sentient - "We cannot trust our reason... that doesn't mean reason's out... we need to do it with humility" - "It's the extent of our power that makes our arrogance dangerous" - "Roe vs Wade was just overturned... don't tell me humans are rational." - "Trump's reality... I don't want to know about that" - The USA: "Democracy requires education & we're not an educated public" - "Our reason is flawed... we need to use it... we have to be sceptical" 11:53 What Matters? - "Cultures & people - that's where you have to work" - "To try to bring change I need to work with humans where they're at" - "I can see the beauty in it... and I can see the problems in it" - "Cruelty is not a good thing... compassion is a good thing... fairly universal" - "I love religions... they have a committed strong belief... I can get a hold of it" - "I have never, never talked to a serious Christian, & had them, after a serious conversation, say 'it's OK, what we're doing with anymals'... an atheist? - whole different picture." - Fowler's stages of religion "I was there (stage 6) in my teens" - "These religions are rock solid in teaching the core ethic... of compassion" - Wild animal suffering & hell as challenges to a benevolent god - "Western faiths tend to be very rigid..." Eastern faiths are more pluralistic/flexible? - Compassion / empathy as central to Lisa's family's ethics - "When you live in a community you can't tolerate cruelty" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.

Philip is a writer from Aotearoa New Zealand, of Pākehā (NZ European) & Māori (Ngāi Tahu) descent. He is a PhD candidate at the Uni of Sydney, affiliated with the Sydney Environment Institute. He holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from The Uni of Auckland & diplomas in te reo Māori (the Māori language) from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Philip has written for publications such as the Guardian, Newsroom, & Takahē. His book, Love Notes: for a Politics of Love, is published by Lantern Books. In 2018, he co-organised 'The Politics of Love: A Conference' at All Souls College, Oxford. Philip was also kaiwhakatipu (editor) of He Ika Haehae Kupenga. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:54 Philip's Intro - Writing on animals, Maori issues & "The Politics of Love" 03:10 What's Real? - Neither parent very religious so grew up agnostic? - Anglican Christian high school - Sermons talked more about love than god - Confirmed at 14 yrs... "ridiculous... what do 14 yr olds know?" - "A lot of the metaphysical background was smuggled in" - Anglicanism to comparative religion to philosophy - Turning from metaphysical to normative/ethics/politics -  "The final nature of reality is unknowable to us & we just have to proceed on our senses" - Albert Camus - The risk of being distracted by esoteric philosophical questions... instead "We need to be engaged in work that tried to bring about a better world in the light of obvious suffering" - "I do believe there is something transcendent that is true... spiritual... love" - "Communing with the spiritual... but through a critical filter" - "Prophets of love... Martin Luther King Jr & Te Whiti O Rongomai" - God, purpose, meaning, spirit, love... "Our attempts to name it... project our own interpretations on to it... prevent us from fully understanding..." - Ethical risks from religious or spiritual epistemologies (unchallengeable, unknowable, incommunicable, obedience, higher purposes, constrained/conditional compassion) - Old, new testaments, "what would the next step be?... Something like love?... a more mature ethical outlook." - Is something missing from a purely naturalistic ethics? "Not necessarily... we should & can find reasons for acting in a loving way independently from this spirituality I have described." 26:30 What Matters? - "I understand ethics in relation to love & relationship" - Constructing & affirming the morality we want to see in the world - "We are living in an absurd world... we need to determine & assert our own values... try to act lovingly" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.

Ana Bradley is Executive Director of Sentient Media. Sentient Media is a non-profit journalism outlet aimed at making transparent the suffering that goes on in our food systems and inspiring readers to think more about the implications of what we eat. Ana also hosts the Sentient Media podcast. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:38 Ana's Intro - Animals in the media (largely ignoring their perspectives) 06:17 What's Real? - "I never had a conversation with my parents about god" - Church of England school but "I never believed in... a man sitting in the clouds" - Linking Christian & pagan festivals - Celebrating equinox & solstice. Sunrise to sunset walks with dad - Wikka, paganism, nature - "Beliefs of respecting nature & respecting animals" - Not practicing any religion but rituals of respecting the solstice & natural transitions - Building an elements altar as a child - "I don't believe in magic... but I do believe that nature & animals have incredible power & roles to play in the existence of our planet... it's weighted in science & reason & logic" - David Attenborough's "Life of Plants" 15:15 What Matters? - Looking to nature & our relationship with the planet - The power and aura of natural cycles - "The circle of life" (sorry for my singing) argument for animal product consumption - The naturalistic fallacy - JW: "Nature is awesome but it is not ethically good or bad" - Wild animal suffering 22:07 Who Matters? - At 6yrs old seeing a picture of a kitten being vivisected - Family dog & fishes - "I have this instinct to go to the underdog... the group or the being that is least respected or protected" - Learning about exploitation of non-human & human animals around the world - Children's natural empathy for non-humans... "we kind of beat it out of them" - Making the connection between animals on the plate and animals suffering at 6 yrs old - Asking about animal derived food "my parents told me the truth"... I said: "I don't want to eat animals" - Supportive parents re: going vegetarian then vegan - Social, psychological, practical, information impediments to veganism - "One piece of the puzzle is knowing how to eat" - "It took me a few years to realise what the dairy industry is" - At 10yrs seeing a Viva poster of a dairy cow ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.

Erin is the Deputy Director of Investigations at Animal Outlook, a national animal-advocacy nonprofit organisation. Erin was an undercover investigator for two years. She left the field after her last investigation at the Dick Van Dam Dairy in California, where she saw cruelty, abuse & suffering every day. Through her new position with Animal Outlook, Erin works closely with investigators, providing support & resources. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:38 Erin's Intro - Undercover farm & fishery investigations & Animal Outlook 02:46 What's Real? - Growing up very religious...  - Church every Sunday, Biblical moral standards - The Golden Rule "Do unto others..." - "There was a point in my life where I started to question... there always seemed to be some exclusions... some conditions" - "'Others' encompassed everyone... human, animals, children, everyone regardless of sexuality, background, identification..." - No longer Christian, now non-religious... "someone who just wants to make the world a better place for everyone in it" - "As I got older I started questioning things more" - Very religious mother "faith based" who still encouraged questions - Religious belief: "That's great for them... as long as no one is being hurt" - Questioning both the facts & ethics of Christianity - "It really came to a head for me... [I] managed to fall into almost every marginalised community" LGBTQ+, race... - "I fell into so many of those categories that potentially might be excluded from salvation" - The supernatural, luck, agnosticism? - "I never rule anything out" humility 18:25 What Matters? - [Golden Rule] "the way I would like the world to function" - "...my own trauma & hardship & suffering" - Compassion for it's own sake or because god commands? 23:30 Who Matters? - "I've always had this connection with animals" - As a child "I did not see a lot of kindness", often conditional compassion - With non-human animals: "There are no conditions to receive affection from them"... "Those were the purest connections I could make" - Making friends with a scary-sounding neighbourhood dog "I just felt a wet nose & breathing" - Saving a stray dog & drowning kittens - Watching an animal farming documentary at ~13-14 yrs old "I immediately felt horrified" - "I could feel that contradiction... why am I eating this?" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.

This episode is a recording of my presentation about Sentientism to the Terra.do climate change platform & community. Many thanks to Adam and the team for inviting me. My core presentation runs for about 30 minutes - the rest is an open conversation with the group. Drop me an email at hello at sentientism dot info if you'd like a copy of the slides - or you can see them on the YouTube of my presentation. Terra.do is the world’s first online climate learning platform and community for professionals looking to pivot their career towards climate solutions. Their goal is to get 100 million people, in all sectors of society, working on climate change by 2030. They run cohort-based online programs for talented individuals that teach them everything about climate, plug them into a network of mentors and expose them to full-time/part-time/entrepreneurial work opportunities in the space.) In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what (and who) matters?” Sentientism answers those questions with a commitment to "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." Find out more at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

LoriKim (she/her/we/our) describes herself as an educator, organiser, activist, conservationist, abolitionist, naturalist & healer. Originally from Jamaica & now living in the Bronx, USA, LoriKim has dedicated her life to working for social & environmental justice specifically organizing around LGBTQIA+, Black, Brown & Indigenous communities.  LoriKim’s work in anthropology & her training as a biologist has helped her work against environmental racism, in providing environmental education for People of Color & in working towards decolonialism & liberation through veganism for over 25 years. LoriKim works as a founder, facilitator and organiser with organisations including BlackVegFest https://blackvegfest.org/ & The Cypher. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:26 LoriKim's Intro - Educator, organiser, activist, conservationist, abolitionist, naturalist, healer - "Black liberation practice" with "a queer & vegan lens" 02:38 What's Real? - Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica - "Being a Black country... what that means is that we had to really hold tight to our traditions, our histories that were muddled, were removed... because of slavery" - "Highly colonised", stringent laws, highly carceral - "Missionaries saw opportunity to come in and bring their various and sundry versions of the truth" - Synchronising traditions into Christianity as the only way they could survive - Growing up Catholic "A very white and blond Jesus... this is not someone I can relate to." - "I never believed in Santa Claus" - "Religion... as the framework I had to live under in order to go about my daily life" - Communion, saying rosary, prayer - "What I saw in the natural world did not reflect this idea that god created all of these things... I watched creation happen." - Moving to the US at 13 - "This religion doesn't make any sense to me" & "bruk out" from church - Coming out & stopping eating meat at 14 - "I could not equate this idea of loving all beings... and also eating them" - "Yes - I'm an atheist... I don't believe any of this" - "However, spirit moves you." - Talking with ancestors "I thought that was me talking to myself, but..." - "I would ask for things in my head & it would happen" - "I never really strayed away from thinking about the world beyond" - A multitude of universes & studying science - "A hybrid of really being rooted in science... & there's so much more that's unknown that I know that I feel" - "I'm an Aquarius & we don't follow anybody else's rules" - Practising things that come from a lot of African ancestral traditions, "but not strictly" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.

Nicolas is a research associate at INRAE (L’institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement) and the Toulouse School of Economics. His work focuses on risk and decision theory, environmental economics, benefit-cost analysis and, more recently, on animal welfare. He has published scientific papers on subjects including the precautionary principle, the value of statistical life, and climate policy. He has organized several international conferences and written numerous articles for the general public, as well as reports on risk policy issues. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:31 Nicolas' Intro - Economics, risk, environment, psychology, now non-human animals - "Trying to include animal issues into mainstream economics" - From anthropocentrism to sentientism in every field? 04:40 What's Real? - Growing up in SW France - Catholic parents, but "religion was not very important" - Attending church - Not anti-religion but not a positive view either - "Religions have contributed to a strong divide between humans and animals... dominion... stewardship" - Surrounded by animals... dogs, cows in grandfather's farm, horses - "I liked to view myself as an animal lover" - "I like to see myself as a scientifically-minded person"  - Religious & naturalistic routes to anthropocentrism 12:08 What & Who Matters? - "We are raised to eat meat... and we don't really question it" - "My vegetarian epiphany" 10 years ago on a date - "I was completely ignorant about what is going on in that industry [dairy, eggs, meat]" - "I didn't see that when it's quite obvious - and I have wrong beliefs - what happened in my brain, my mind & in society?" - Cognitive dissonance, meat paradox, psychology: "Every time I had new sources of information it was bad news" - A colleague, expert in the meat industry, asked "what's the problem with animal welfare in the meat industry?" - "People don't want to see, don't want to know... even the experts" - "There is a demand for cognitive dissonance, but also a supply" - The evolution of morality, but why do we care about animals - some more than others? Extension of our compassion for humans, reciprocity? - Emotional / intellectual routes into moral consideration - Bio/ecocentrism/holism - "In economics, all research is anthropocentric" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.

Marina is a journalist, currently focusing on factory farming and the criminalization of activists who fight it. Marina has written for Vox, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Intercept and many other publications. She used to be an editor for Harvard Magazine. Before that, she wrote and edited for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Toledo Blade and The Harvard Crimson. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:25 Marina's Intro - Zeroing in on animal-focused journalism 03:20 What's Real? - Raised by a single mum - Jewish but not v.religious (like many Soviet jews) - Emigrating from Belarus to the USA at 3yrs old - Growing up in St. Louis - Orthodox Jewish school to 8th grade but "feeling like an outsider" - "I was sceptical of the religious stuff from a pretty young age" - Updating "my religion" on FaceBook as "The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" in middle school - Gender segregated classes - Hearing anti-Arab racist statements in class - "A profound sense of justice" - Going vegetarian at 11 yrs old "if we don't have to kill animals... then it's wrong to do that" - School-mates "did not understand vegetarianism... god gave us dominion over animals... they're happy to be killed & give us sustenance." - Secular, progressive high-school, but "I wouldn't say that people's attitudes... were particularly different... different reasons... protein, animals not intelligent..." - Moving to veganism - "I see everything through an animal liberation lens" - Secular/scientific/naturalistic worldviews don't guarantee good ethics either - "I feel a profound connection to alll of life on earth, particularly animals & sentient life... it's something I can't express in material terms" - Animal ways of understanding can transcend what humans are capable of. Birds navigation, dog smell capability... - "Respect for non-human life & epistemological humility should underpin our efforts to understand the world - rather than the assumption that humans have the right to manage & dominate" - "I still identify as Jewish... an important part of who I am" - Atheists/agnostics within religious communities - "The way I feel about life & animals can definitely be described as spriritual" - Human dominionism "is totally at odds with my worldview" - The harms that can come from religious or naturalistic worldviews - "Science is responsible for a lot of evil stuff too" 24:00 What Matters? - Justice - "I reject any form of violence... & that's what animal agriculture is" ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.

Susana is an assistant professor based at the Department of Logic, History, and Philosophy of Science of UNED, working on animal ethics and the philosophy of animal minds. She holds a BA in Philosophy from Complutense University of Madrid, an MA in Global Ethics and Human Values from King’s College London and a PhD in Philosophy from UNED, Spain. She has been a post-doc fellow at the University of Graz and at the Messerli Research Institute in Vienna. Susana describes her research interest as focusing on “what animals are capable of feeling, thinking, and doing, and what this means for the sort of treatment that we owe them.” Susana led the project “Animals and the Concept of Death” which culminated in her book, “La Zarigüeya De Schrödinger” or “Schrödinger’s Possum”. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:46 Susana's Intro - Vienna & Madrid cultures re: animals & veganism 03:57 What's Real? - Growing up in a 100% atheist household. Unusual for 1980's Spain - "I used to think of god as a woman" but "I never had it as a belief" - No religious education... "It's a little bit sad" - "It's always been very natural to not have god as part of the explanation" - Some sense of shame about not being religious as a kid but "I quickly grew proud of my beliefs" - Attending an international private school with rich kids "I knew I was different"... incorporated being an atheist into that difference - Superstitions "Just in case" :) 12:51 What Matters? - "I want to believe in moral realism - I don't want to be a relativist" - "Sentience is definitely something that provides a good grounding for ethics & moral status" - "I feel like something is left out if we focus excessively on sentience" - Agency as a potential moral grounding? "Something that ought to be respected about agency" - Wilcox: "agency & sentience are co-extensive" - "Harms beyond sentience?... ways of wronging animals that don't correlate with subjective feelings": dignity, preventing from relations / developing capacity - Drawn to objectiveless accounts of wellbeing more than hedonist accounts - "Pleasure is something important... but a life that contains only pleasure... might be a good enough life, but it's somehow impoverished" - Nihilism - "It feels like experiences aren't everything"... "Experiences are subject to manipulation, habituation..." ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.

Mark is a psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist, best known for his discovery of the brain mechanisms of dreaming and his use of psychoanalytic methods in contemporary neuroscience. He holds the Chair of Neuropsychology at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital and is the President of the South African Psychoanalytical Association. He is also Research Chair of the International Psychoanalytical Association. Mark has received numerous awards, notably Honorary Membership of the New York Psychoanalytic Society, the American College of Psychoanalysts and the American College of Psychiatrists. He has published more than 250 articles and book chapters, and 6 books. His second book, The Neuropsychology of Dreams, was a landmark contribution to the field. His 2002 book (with Oliver Turnbull), The Brain and the Inner World was a best-seller and has been translated into 13 languages. His latest book, on the hard problem of consciousness, is The Hidden Spring. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube. We discuss: 00:00 Welcome 01:29 Mark's Intro - The brain as the organ of the mind - Breaking from behaviourism - Studying psychoanalysis (first person) alongside neuroscience (studying from the outside) - The value of interdisciplinary studies of consciousness - Artificial intelligence perspectives 06:08 What's Real? - Sunday school, Christian mother - At 5-6 yrs old, father said "Your mum believes in all that stuff, I don't." - Brother's horrific accident & brain damage: "He came back from the hospital... a changed person." "Who is this guy and where is Lee?" - "I was forced at an early age to confront this question of the relationship mind & body... the person & the organism" - "My sentient being must somehow be bound up with the functions of this bodily organ" - "I think we underestimate little kids... they really do think about these things" - "Clearly he is his brain" - Finding it terrifying... intimations of our own mortality - Lying in bed in panic: "I am going to cease to exist" - Depression: "what's the point?" - Becoming atheist, now agnostic. Appreciating the limits of human comprehension (through working with patients) - "We're only able to comprehend as much as the instrument we use... is capable of... it's not a perfect instrument" - Taking a comfort in ignorance & the limits of our capability - "Do the best we can to understand" but "science has limits" - Un-testable/falsifiable beliefs. Delusions as a response to frightening uncertainties ...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info. Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there! Thanks Graham.