A recent study published by two German philosophers, Professor Leonard Dung and PhD candidate Albert Newen, sent shockwaves through the scientific community by introducing the idea of rethinking our approach to animal consciousness. Their concept suggested that rather than determining its presence or absence, we should simply measure animal consciousness on a spectrum alongside human consciousness.
This begs the question: why are we asking these questions in the first place? This is what Carol J. Adams calls the “arrogant eye” of anthropocentrism – an interpretation that only human perspectives and beliefs matter in our world view.
In reality, it is impossible for us humans to make an accurate judgement of animal consciousness since the definition of consciousness varies from species to species. For example, the Glasgow coma scale measures the expectation that a patient will regain consciousness, rather than defining its presence or absence.
We often judge other species based on how similar they are to us humans. Unfortunately, this narrow perspective ignores the rich and diverse biodiversity of our planet. For instance, behavioural studies of cephalopods such as octopi have revealed they experience pain yet express it differently to humans.
This discrepancy in consciousness between humans and animals has created a tense debate over animal testing in the past decade. Some people argue that animals should be treated more humanely due to their similarities to humans, whereas others propose that animals have a right to exist regardless of our view of them.
In this day and age, we should move away from placing animals in hierarchies and instead focus on treating all species with respect and care. After all, we are living in a period of unprecedented global warming – a climate and nature crisis of our own making. To induce real change, it is necessary for us to abandon any notion that animal consciousness needs to be measured up to our own in order to be granted the right to exist.
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