95 ratings | 26 reviews | avg rating:4.57

Jonathan’s Year In Books

Jonathan’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Jonathan’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Jonathan’s 2025 Year in Books

Jonathan Birch’s Followers (24)

Jonathan’s Bookshelves

to-read (21)
currently-reading (1)
read (92)
did-not-finish (0)

Jonathan’s Friends (4)

Daniel

3,405 books | 55 friends

Shrilaxmi

648 books | 140 friends

Fernanda González

2,374 books | 131 friends

Fin Moorhouse

2,084 books | 165 friends

Jonathan Birch

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Genre

Philosophy

Member Since

March 2024

edit data

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

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Jonathan Birch questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

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)

flag

1 like · like
Comment

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)

flag

like
Comment

See all 3 answers from Jonathan Birch…

Combine Editions
Jonathan Birch’s books

Average rating: 4.17 · 104 ratings · 27 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI 4.16 avg rating — 94 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

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

0 posts
Jonathan Birch's Blog

Jonathan Birch hasn't written any blog posts yet.

Jonathan is Currently Reading

Jonathan Birch is currently reading

The Passenger (The Passenger #1)

by Cormac McCarthy

bookshelves: currently-reading

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

Dec 05, 2024 05:37AM

rss
Jonathan’s Recent Updates

Jonathan Birch wants to read The Book of Minds: How to Understand Ourselves and Other Beings, from Animals to AI to Aliens by Philip Ball	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
Jul 04, 2026 12:58AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Book of Minds by Philip Ball. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Book of Minds by Philip Ball <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch wants to read Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime by Sean Carroll (Goodreads Author)	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
Jun 06, 2026 01:58PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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 »
May 11, 2026 01:35PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Feeding Britain by Tim Lang. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Feeding Britain by Tim Lang <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch rated a book it was amazing The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk	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
Apr 24, 2026 10:24AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch rated a book it was amazing Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky	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
Apr 23, 2026 02:28PM · like
Jonathan Birch rated a book it was amazing The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky	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
Apr 23, 2026 02:28PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch rated a book it was amazing The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky	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
Apr 23, 2026 02:28PM · like
Jonathan Birch rated a book it was amazing Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky	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
Apr 23, 2026 02:28PM · like
Jonathan Birch has read The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky	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
Apr 23, 2026 02:28PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch has read The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky	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
Apr 23, 2026 02:28PM · like