Comments on: Are animals sentient beings? What's wrong with anthropomorphizing?

By: Carnival of the Horses « enlightened horsemanship through touch

Carnival of the Horses « enlightened horsemanship through touch — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:20:02 +0000

[...] Pet Chatter also presents Are animals sentient beings? What’s wrong with anthropomorphizing? posted at Pet [...]

By: Pet Psychic

Pet Psychic — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:45:58 +0000

Thank you, Jenny. I’m glad to hear you found it interesting. Hope to see you again soon.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:22:29 +0000

Pretty good post. I just came by your site and wanted to say
that I have really enjoyed reading your posts. In any case
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you post again soon!

By: Pet Psychic

Pet Psychic — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:28:53 +0000

Thank you, Janet. I appreciate your thoughts.

It seems to me that humans have such a need to feel superior that they cannot allow for the concept of intelligence in what they view as lesser beings. The “dumb” animal label has always offended me and certainly doesn’t apply to the majority of animals I have met.

By: Janet Roper

Janet Roper — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:18:30 +0000

Thank you for your post. I find it sad that when negative qualities such as cruelty or greed are assigned to animals, anthropomorphism is accepted without question. It is only when positive qualities, such as the ones you cited in your post, are attributed to animals that anthropomorphism is seen as adverse. What does that say about us humans?

Harmony,
Janet

By: Pet Psychic

Pet Psychic — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:24:42 +0000

Thank you for the thoughtful comment, Chris. I believe that your example of the cat also demonstrates another level of intelligent reasoning. That is, your cat found a way to communicate with another being who doesn’t speak cat. Dogs and horses also do this. I would suspect most animals do. They have a need and they find a way to get it met sometimes using very creative means. They are quite effectively training people.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:52:37 +0000

I think that, to a certain degree, animals ARE sentient beings. Probably not the same way we are, but they are definitely sentient. To me, “sentience” means more than just consciousness. An animal could be conscious, and yet still function mostly just on an instinctual level. Sentience means being self-aware…not only does a sentient being percieve the world from its senses (sight, smell, hearing, taste, etc), but it is also aware of how it interacts with the world, and it has a sense of self. It thinks, it remembers, it has wants, etc, and it is aware that those thoughts are coming from itself. No one could doubt that cats or dogs are sentient beings. I know they are. They are very intelligent, but they also do have an awareness about the world around them. They might not be as intelligent as humans or understand things the same way we do, but they are definitely aware. Here’s a really simple example…when my cat wants to go outside, he goes to the door and starts meowing and scratching on the door. Now, if cats only reacted on instinct and what they can see, then wouldn’t he just go to a window and keep trying to climb out instead? But somehow he recognizes that he CAN’T go out through a closed window (even though it’s transparent) and he CAN go out through a door. He has a goal (he wants to go outside), he is aware of his surroundings (he’s inside the house) and he thinks of a solution to the problem (he knows someone will open the door for him). To me, that proves some level of rational thinking, and I think it proves sentience.

And of course, that’s just a really simple example. Cats and dogs do things everyday that show how intelligent they are. I think a lot of other animals are probably sentient too. You can look at them and just tell there is some kind of personality there.