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Person 1: The fetus becomes valuable when it becomes sentient. Person 2 (our hero): I’d like to understand your view better. Would you consider newborn infants sentient? How about pigs?

Pigs Are Sentient

People disagree about what counts as sentience, but it seems like if a newborn infant is sentient, then a pig should be too. This is important, because most people agree that we should grant more rights to an infant than to a pig. (Animal abuse is not okay, but for example, it’s a good idea to test medical products on animals before humans.)

First posted March 15, 2018

Suggested:

Person 1 (our hero): You and I equally deserve the right to life. So do all our friends. What do we have in common that makes us equal? Person 2: We’re all sentient. Person 1 (our hero): I’d like to understand better. Would you consider squirrels sentient?

Person 1 (our hero): You and I equally deserve the right to life. So do all our friends. What do we have in common that makes us equal? Person 2: We’re all aware of our surroundings. Person 1 (our hero): Hm, but what about people who are passed out from drinking too much? They deserve the right to life too.

Person 1 (our hero): You and I equally deserve the right to life. So do all our friends. What do we have in common that makes us equal? Person 2: We all have brains. Person 1 (our hero): Hm. If that were the right explanation, mice would deserve the same right to life as us.

Person 1 (our hero): You and I equally deserve the right to life. So do all our friends. What makes us equal? Person 2: We’re all intelligent enough to have a conversation. Person 1 (our hero): Hm. If that’s the right explanation, infants don’t deserve the right to life.