Sentience

Sentience is the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively. Eighteenth-century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think (reason) from the ability to feel (sentience). In modern Western philosophy, sentience is the ability to experience sensations (known in philosophy of mind as qualia). In Eastern philosophy, sentience is a metaphysical quality of all things that require respect and care. The concept is central to the philosophy of animal rights, because sentience is necessary for the ability to suffer, and thus is held to confer certain rights.

Philosophy and sentience

In the philosophy of consciousness, sentience can refer to the ability of any entity to have subjective perceptual experiences, or as some philosophers refer to them, "qualia". This is distinct from other aspects of the mind and consciousness, such as creativity, intelligence, sapience, self-awareness, and intentionality (the ability to have thoughts about something). Sentience is a minimalistic way of defining 'consciousness', which is otherwise commonly used to collectively describe sentience plus other characteristics of the mind.

Sentience in non-human species

The sentience of animals, plants, and other non-human entities is a topic of active debate within and across many disciplines, including animal behavior, cognitive ethology, animal rights, and artificial intelligence. Some researchers argue that sentience is a characteristic that is shared by all animals.

Sentience in artificial intelligence

In the field of artificial intelligence, the term sentience describes a machine's ability to replicate human-like consciousness. This includes the capacity to feel, perceive, and experience subjectively. For AI to be considered sentient, it would need to have experiences and emotions, and to be aware of its own existence.

See also

• Consciousness
• Qualia
• Animal rights
• Artificial intelligence

References

Sentience Resources
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