Questão
de Ética PT

Lesson plan · Volume II

Considering Sentient Beings

Foundations of a sentience-centered ethics

See the volume

Objectives

  • What sentience is and which beings probably have it
  • The argument from relevance and the argument from species overlap
  • The principle of equal consideration and the impartiality test
  • What to do when we are not sure whether a being can feel

It helps if the class has already seen: Volume I helps, but it is not required.

A 50-minute lesson

  1. 5 min
    Opening. Ask the question and let the class answer without correcting them: Make a list of whom you take into account when you make a decision. What criterion are you actually using?
  2. 15 min
    Reading. What Is Relevant to Knowing to Whom We Owe Consideration? (6 min read) and What Is the Argument from Species Overlap? (2 min read). For younger classes, read the “For kids” layer: Before deciding whether someone deserves care, the right question is: can this someone be hurt or made happy? If so, they need to be taken into account. It doesn't matter whether they can read, talk, or make agreements.
  3. 15 min
    Discussion.
    • Make a list of whom you take into account when you make a decision. What criterion are you actually using? (What Is Relevant to Knowing to Whom We Owe Consideration?)
    • What traits would you use to separate those who can be exploited from those who can't? Would any human end up on the wrong side? (What Is the Argument from Species Overlap?)
    • How would you explain the difference between “breaking” an object and “hurting” someone? (What Is Sentience and Why Does It Matter?)
    • What kind of evidence would make you change your mind about the sentience of an animal you don't take into account today? (Which Beings Are Sentient?)
  4. 10 min
    Activity. Project the Speciesism Test tool for the class. The four questions from Volume II applied to a practice of your choice. Ask each group to justify its choices.
  5. 5 min
    Wrap-up. Each person writes one sentence about what changed in their thinking. Compare it with the volume summary: If species is not what matters, what is? This volume presents the most widely accepted answer in contemporary animal ethics: sentience. It explains the argument from relevance, the argument from species overlap, the principle of equal consideration, and practical tests for noticing when we are being biased.

Exercise sheet

  1. For each proposed criterion, the argument from relevance asks...

    1. how many people defend it
    2. how relevant it is to knowing who can be harmed or benefited
    3. whether it's old

  2. The ability to reflect on what one ought to do is relevant to...

    1. knowing who can be held responsible
    2. knowing who can suffer
    3. knowing who is hungry

  3. Why is the argument called “species overlap”?

    1. Because species mix genetically
    2. Because some humans and animals coincide in the abilities used to exclude animals
    3. Because animals are more numerous

  4. According to the chapter, in humans, the lack of those abilities is usually seen as a reason to...

    1. give even greater care
    2. disregard them
    3. treat them as objects

  5. What are the two basic ways of harming a sentient being?

    1. Through the presence of what's negative and the absence of what's positive
    2. Only through physical pain
    3. Only through death

  6. Why does sentience matter for ethics?

    1. Because it's rare
    2. Because it's what makes someone capable of being harmed and benefited
    3. Because only humans have it

  7. To assess behavior as evidence of sentience, the chapter recommends looking at...

    1. a single reaction
    2. how the being behaves in general
    3. only its appearance

  8. So far, all known sentient beings belong...

    1. to the animal kingdom, but that may change
    2. to the plant kingdom
    3. to any kingdom

  9. Is giving animals consideration, but to a lesser degree, compatible with equal consideration?

    1. Yes, always
    2. No, if the lower weight comes only from species
    3. Only for wild animals

  10. Valuing dogs and devaluing pigs is...

    1. a speciesism that isn't anthropocentric
    2. compatible with equal consideration
    3. environmentalism

Answer key

  1. b) Defenses of anthropocentrism assume their criteria are relevant without explaining how.
  2. a) The chapter distinguishes what is relevant for holding someone responsible from what is relevant for considering them.
  3. b) There's an overlap: some humans lack the abilities, and some animals have some of them.
  4. a) The lack increases vulnerability, which calls for more care, not less.
  5. a) Suffering is the presence of the negative; dying or being prevented from enjoying things is the absence of the positive.
  6. b) Without experiences, nothing can be good or bad for that being.
  7. b) What matters isn't one specific situation, but the being's overall behavior.
  8. a) The chapter mentions the possibility of non-organic sentience in the future.
  9. b) Speciesism isn't limited to total disregard: giving less weight because of species violates it too.
  10. a) Speciesism also occurs among species of nonhuman animals.

The lesson plan and exercises are a study layer written for this site. The texts read are by Luciano Carlos Cunha.