The Moral Consideration of Nonhuman Animals: How Can We Identify Which Beings Are Conscious?

Abstract

A variety of ethical positions consider that the ability of an individual to be awareof what befalls him or her —in a more o less complex manner— is the indispensableattribute for that being to be per se morally considered. Nowadays, nevertheless,we lack a direct method to identify the ability of an individual to be consciousand, therefore, to corroborate the belief that certain beings —many nonhumananimals included— are conscious. Throughout this article I will analyze thequestions related to this issue, and in particular the different scientific tools thatwe have in order to construct hypothesis about the probability of individuals ofbeing conscious. As we shall see, at present we can come to the conclusion that a great number of nonhuman animals are probably conscious and that, therefore,they deserve to be morally considered.