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98 ratings | 28 reviews | avg rating:4.58

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Jonathan Birch

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Born

The United Kingdom

Genre

Philosophy

Member Since

March 2024

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I'm a Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics, where I direct The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience. I study how science is transforming our understanding of the minds of other animals, and the implications of the science for ethics, policy and law. ...more

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Can you tell us a two-sentence horror story?

Jonathan Birch As recently at the the 1980s, surgery was routinely performed on newborn babies without anaesthesia. It took a public outcry to change clinical practi…moreAs recently at the the 1980s, surgery was routinely performed on newborn babies without anaesthesia. It took a public outcry to change clinical practice - underlining the value of involving the public in debates about the edge of sentience. (less)

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I've just finished reading The Edge of Sentience. While very thorough, it seems to me that an underexplored topic is why should we care at all about the possibility of the infliction of suffering in other sentient beings, especially those that might exist in a form so obscure that "suffering" might be meaningless. Did you mean to explore this topic and if you decided not to, why?

Jonathan Birch Thanks for reading! I'm not sure what specific cases you're thinking about. I can say it was a deliberate choice to discuss the human cases first, sta…moreThanks for reading! I'm not sure what specific cases you're thinking about. I can say it was a deliberate choice to discuss the human cases first, starting with patients with disorders of consciousness following severe brain injuries. In those cases, the need to take a risk of suffering seriously even when you're not sure, and even when considering a state of consciousness quite different from your own, is extremely easy to see. The thought is a very easy and natural one to have. And the book is structured so as to encourage the reader to hold that thought and carry it with them to harder and harder cases. Few people ask "why should I care at all?" when confronted with unresponsive patients in the ICU; that question only creeps in gradually as distance from humans increases. And I want to encourage the reader to ask themselves: did I have good reasons to have the "why should I care?" thought at that specific juncture (e.g. when we moved from fishes to invertebrates)? Is there a real difference in the cases that can justify the difference in my reactions, or is the difference a bias I cannot justify?(less)

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Jonathan Birch’s books

Average rating: 4.19 · 110 ratings · 27 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI 4.18 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2024 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Philosophy of Social Evolution 4.30 avg rating — 10 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Jonathan is Currently Reading

Jonathan Birch is currently reading

The Passenger (The Passenger #1)

by Cormac McCarthy

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Dec 05, 2024 05:37AM

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Jonathan Birch and 44 other people liked B SIDDLE's review of Great and Unfortunate Things: "Most people reviewing this book have done so before recent revelations. However, even without knowing the full extent of the lies that Mr Arday has told to embellish his CV, I cannot believe that any sensible person did not question the implausible c" Read more of this review »
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Jonathan Birch and 1 other person liked James Bevan's review of Feeding Britain: Our Food Problems and How to Fix Them (Pelican Books): "Really interesting topic which needs to be higher up the agenda of everyone. However, the book wasn’t structured well and it spent too long on sharing stats about the problems we are facing. After a while it was just a bit depressing. It also started" Read more of this review »
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