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- Animal sentience: history, science, and politics
Authors: Andrew N. Rowan et al.
Abstract: This target article has three parts. The first briefly reviews the thinking about nonhuman animals’ sentience in the Western canon: what we might know about their capacity for feeling, leading up to Bentham’s famous question “can they suffer'” The second part sketches the modern development of animal welfare science and the role that animal-sentience considerations have played therein. The third part describes the launching, by Compassion in World Farming, of efforts to incorporate animal sentience language into public policy and regulations concerning human treatment of animals.
PubDate: Thu, 12 May 2022 11:43:03 PDT
- Defending human difference by raising the bar
Authors: Joe Gough
Abstract: Chapman & Huffman (C&H) offer a theory of why we humans want to believe that we are different: to justify our cruelty to animals. This commentary offers further supporting evidence of this and examines more closely what the claim that humans are ‘different’ amounts to. It also considers some methodological issues in animal psychology closely related to C&H ‘s theory. These problems result from a common strategy for defending hypotheses about human difference.
PubDate: Thu, 12 May 2022 11:40:33 PDT
- Free will and animal suicide
Authors: Sabina Schrynemakers
Abstract: David Peña-Guzmán presents two arguments against the view that because only humans have free will only humans can commit suicide: (1) nonhuman animals may possess free will, and (2) the libertarian notion of free will is incompatible with scientific explanation. The free will objection to animal suicide is indeed mistaken, but Peña-Guzmán’s criticism of the libertarian notion of free will seems misplaced. His target should instead be the assumption that free choices must be made consciously or self-reflectively or the assumption that freedom cannot come in degrees.
PubDate: Thu, 12 May 2022 11:39:20 PDT
- Why do Chapman & Huffman think humans are not different'
Authors: Nick Zangwill
Abstract: This commentary discusses various shortcomings in Chapman & Huffman’s (2018) denial of differences between human beings and animals and the ethical consequences they think turn on this. Rationality is proposed as a candidate for such a difference, one that also has acceptable ethical consequences.
PubDate: Sun, 14 Nov 2021 04:53:26 PST
- Extending animal welfare science to include wild animals
Authors: Walter Veit et al.
Abstract: Ng’s (2016) target article built on his earlier work advocating a science of welfare biology (Ng 1995). Although there were problems with the models proposed in Ng’s original paper regarding the balance of pleasure and suffering for wild animals, his call for a science of wild animal welfare was a sound one. This does not require a new discipline but just an extension of the existing frameworks and methods of animal welfare science to include wild animals.
PubDate: Wed, 23 Jun 2021 13:56:26 PDT
- Heeding the call of COVID-19
Authors: David Wiebers et al.
Abstract: We are grateful to all of our commentators. They have provided a wide range of valuable perspectives and insights from many fields, revealing a broad interest in the subject matter. Nearly all the commentaries have helped to affirm, refine, expand, amplify, deepen, interpret, elaborate, or apply the messages in the target article. Some have offered critiques and suggestions that help us address certain issues in greater detail, including several points concerning industrialized farming and the wildlife trade. Overall, there is great awareness and strong consensus among commentators that any solution for preventing future pandemics and other related health crises must take into account not only what is best for humans but also what is best for nonhumans and the environment, given the profound interconnectedness of all life.
PubDate: Wed, 28 Apr 2021 12:51:34 PDT
- Affective sentience and moral protection
Authors: Russell Powell et al.
Abstract: We have structured our response according to five questions arising from the commentaries: (i) What is sentience' (ii) Is sentience a necessary or sufficient condition for moral standing' (iii) What methods should guide comparative cognitive research in general, and specifically in studying invertebrates' (iv) How should we balance scientific uncertainty and moral risk' (v) What practical strategies can help reduce biases and morally dismissive attitudes toward invertebrates'
PubDate: Sat, 09 Jan 2021 13:44:44 PST
- Can human neurological tests of consciousness be applied to octopus'
Authors: Benedetta Cecconi et al.
Abstract: If the anatomy, physiology and behaviour of a species differ substantially from our own, can we infer that the species is unconscious' In the daily clinical care of patients with disorders of consciousness we face many similar challenges: our current approach with these patients - a combination of behavioural and brain imaging-based assessments - might also be a viable route to investigating octopus consciousness.
PubDate: Fri, 08 Jan 2021 04:16:57 PST
- Remedying anthropogenic zoonoses
Authors: Daniela Figueroa et al.
Abstract: Abstract: Zoonotic diseases represent 60% of the infections suffered by the human species. in light of the latest episodes of epidemics and pandemics we have to begin to address health problems with another perspective. The “One Health” vision aims to generate a change in consciousness and a new working strategy.
PubDate: Mon, 04 Jan 2021 12:48:41 PST
- Reflections on psychological and psychiatric consequences of COVID-19
pandemic
Authors: Donatella Marazziti
Abstract: Although far from reaching a clear conclusion, some evidence increasingly highlights the possible connections among climate change, environmental pollution and the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their intertwined detrimental effects on both physical and mental health. Such a catastrophic event calls for a novel awareness of the interdependence of all biotic and nonbiotic factors in our environment and planet.
PubDate: Mon, 04 Jan 2021 08:46:32 PST
- Just preservation, trusteeship and multispecies justice
Authors: Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila et al.
Abstract: We are grateful to all the commentators who engaged with our target article. Some commentators have offered important insights into our proposed design and methods for legally intervening on behalf of futurity. Others have focused on theoretical considerations central to our proposal for multispecies justice and trusteeship. All have inspired modifications and further elaboration of our initial proposal. In this Response, we engage with the commentaries, integrating their suggestions, striving for convergence and complementarity, but also discussing points of divergence with our proposed framework where necessary. There is substantial overlap in the points of view of the three co-authors, but there are also differences. Section 1 is more reflective of the views of AT and Section 2 is more reflective of the views of FJS-A and WL.
PubDate: Sat, 02 Jan 2021 14:25:58 PST
- Exploring eight-armed intelligence through film
Authors: Tierney M. Thys
Abstract: Mather (2019) provides a rich overview of the elements underlying octopus cognition and behavioral flexibility. Recently, two remarkable natural history films, My Octopus Teacher and The Octopus in My House have explored intimate human-octopus relationships with a wild (Octopus vulgaris) and a captive octopus (Octopus cyanea) respectively. Both films show rare behaviors that offer observations to test new hypotheses as well as a novel perspective on our own human relationships and place within the natural world. An interview with filmmaker Craig Foster from My Octopus Teacher reveals the profound and transformative power of forming a trusting relationship with such a cognitively capable yet evolutionarily distant group of animals.
PubDate: Mon, 28 Dec 2020 09:47:34 PST
- Reinforcing boundaries does not contribute to change
Authors: Julie Urbanik
Abstract: In prescribing blanket policy bans around wildlife and industrial animal farming as a protective response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Wiebers & Feigin ignore the geographical context of their bans and reinforce problematic boundaries between nature and human society, human cultural groups, and animal-related industries.
PubDate: Sun, 06 Dec 2020 16:51:56 PST
- Thinking longer, looking deeper
Authors: Ronnie Z. Hawkins
Abstract: We need to situate the present crisis within the larger context of what we humans have done to the nonhuman forms of life with which we evolved, taking a longer view of our own evolutionary origins and a deeper look at what might be a more appropriate role for our species to play within the Biosphere.
PubDate: Sun, 06 Dec 2020 15:37:00 PST
- Appealing to human intuitions to reduce animal abuse
Authors: Yzar S. Wehbe et al.
Abstract: Social scientists may be able to find ways to positively affect people’s evolved moral compasses, thereby doing the planet and its inhabitants a great kindness. They could help to shape a constituency that is increasingly opposed to animal abuse in its largest-scale manifestations, factory farming and wet markets. This would, in turn, motivate people to elect ethical leaders who view inaction with regard to animal abuse as a serious moral and medical mistake, if only indirectly due to factory farming’s exacerbation of the threats zoonoses pose to humans.
PubDate: Fri, 04 Dec 2020 12:52:56 PST
- Tribal brains in the global village: Deeper roots of the pandemic
Authors: Robert Gerlai
Abstract: I briefly recap the messages of the target article by Wiebers & Feigin (2020) and the accompanying peer commentaries about what we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the rapid evolution of viruses as an example of the importance of prevention, I explore why it is difficult for our species to foresee and prevent unintended global changes resulting from human activity. I end with a discussion about the long-term future, the ultimate problem inherent in our current mindset and the structure of our economy: growth.
PubDate: Mon, 02 Nov 2020 18:00:44 PST
- Zoonotic realism, computational cognitive science and pandemic prevention
Authors: Tyler Davis et al.
Abstract: Using animals in food and food production systems is one of many drivers of novel zoonoses. Moving toward less dependence on animal proteins is a possible avenue for reducing pandemic risk, but we think that Wiebers & Feigin’s proposed change to food policy (phasing out animal meat production) is unrealistic in its political achievability and its current capacity to feed the world in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. We suggest that improvements in communication strategies, precipitated by developments in computational cognitive neuroscience, can lead the way to a safer future and are feasible now.
PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 18:31:23 PDT
- Re-engage with the world for global health and animal welfare
Authors: Bradley J. Bergstrom
Abstract: Wiebers & Feigin (2020) make a strong argument for measures that would limit future zoonoses, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, by closing live-animal markets, changing our habits of food consumption and production, and reducing habitat destruction. These would help human health, animal welfare, and conservation of at-risk wildlife all at the same time. China’s command-and-control government can accomplish some of these things by edict, but slower-to-act western democracies play a surprisingly large role in these global problems by the power of their consumerism, including the illicit wildlife trade. We citizens need to insist that our government use all of its diplomatic soft power to engage (or re-engage) with other nations, and with global institutions such as the World Health Organization, various United Nations programs, and parties to treaties (some of which we still need to ratify, others of which we need to enforce at home) aimed at solving the interlocking global crises of species endangerment, habitat destruction, climate change, and emerging infectious disease.
PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 16:08:03 PDT
- Covid-19, evolution, brains and psychology
Authors: Frederick Toates
Abstract: Attention needs to be directed to the processes that control behavior in humans and the adaptive problems that they solved in our early evolutionary environment. The evolutionary mismatch between the current environment and the human brain can yield important insights into the problems that beset us in the context of environmental degradation and nonhuman animal welfare.
PubDate: Thu, 29 Oct 2020 12:17:47 PDT
- Rewilding and mixed-community collaboration in conservation
Authors: Liv Baker
Abstract: Rewilding is a psychological and sociocultural event for nonhuman animals that goes beyond the traditional framework of ecology. Elephants need to be seen as political agents in a collaboration. Our commentators shed light on the hierarchical assumptions and politics involved. Mixed-community collaboration can create dynamic and sustainable conservation interventions that are crucial to reconceptualizing the human-elephant relationship beyond the concept of labor. The profound effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have laid bare the fundamental vulnerabilities of the elephant tourism industry. Moreover, how well an elephant has been buffered by the fallout of the pandemic is dependent on the specific relations between mahouts and elephants.
PubDate: Fri, 16 Oct 2020 13:58:53 PDT
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