Dolphin Intelligence Sparks New Ethics Debate
A unit in my college environmental ethics class studied the different ethics systems we follow in order to determine how we treat others. It focused on sentient verses non-sentient: the idea that some life, although not as intelligent as humanity, is still aware of itself (animal) and that other, while still alive, has no self-awareness (plant). The question of sentience was one factor used to determine what level of ethical treatment was appropriate for different members of the environment. Up until now humans for the most part have lumped all animals into one category and treated them the same: humanely, … Continue reading