Consciousness refers to a wide range of states in which there is an awareness of thought, image or sensation. Sentience refers to the immediate sensations and experiences, making sentience a basic part of consciousness (Dawkins, 2006). Darwin believed that animals possess it, although it is hard for others to believe. The difficulty is that it is unknown how sentience arises from the brain cells, how to study it and what to look for. Two sorts of evidence were proposed in order to prove consciousness among animals. One based on animal cognition, and the second evidence is from the study of animal emotions. The first argument states that if animals show high intellectual achievements, then they might have consciousness. However, it merely shows what animals are capable of intellectually but carries no guarantee of sentience without any clear evidence (Dawkins, 2006). The second argument is based on the study of animal emotions. The studies showed that animals can experience emotions, however, they may be unconscious. As a result, sentience still remains a largely unstudied area. However, one must take animal sentience seriously, and they should be treated nicely and with respect.
The knowledge of animal sentience supports the entire animal welfare movement. Demonstrating what animals are capable of is key to achieving a positive change in attitudes and actions towards animals (Proctor, 2012). In the 20th century, a study on sentience motivated UK Government to set up a committee that looked at the welfare of animals in farming systems. Although, the knowledge of sentience is still limited because of the following reasons. It is difficult to measure and prove existence, especially for animals. As a result, sentience is often described as anthropomorphic assumptions, and its credibility as a science has suffered (Proctor, 2012). Fear of anthropomorphism is a second reason why it is difficult to prove the existence of sentience among animals. On the positive side, recent reports have shown what emotions animals experience. However, the commonalities between different species are still being studied. It is stated to be important to continue the exploration of the sense of sentience among the animals because its positive impact on animal welfare will be robust.
References
Dawkins, M. S. (2006). Through animal eyes: What behavior tells us. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 100(1-2), 4-10.
Proctor, H. (2012). Animal sentience: Where are we and where are we heading?. Animals, 2(4), 628-639.