Sentient

Sentient refers to beings or entities capable of subjective experiences, including sensations, emotions, and perceptions. A sentient being is thought to have a first-person perspective and felt experiences, such as pain or pleasure, rather than merely processing information. The term does not necessarily imply self-awareness or higher-order reflection.

Etymology and usage: Sentient comes from the Latin sentire, meaning “to feel.” In English, sentience and the adjective sentient have been used since the early modern period to discuss the capacity for experience beyond simple automatic response.

Philosophical considerations: In the philosophy of mind, sentience is tied to moral considerability—the idea that beings capable of suffering or flourishing deserve ethical consideration. Debates distinguish sentience from consciousness or self-awareness, with some theories equating sentience to a basic level of phenomenal experience, while others separate subjective feeling from higher cognitive states.

Ethics, law, and policy: The concept informs animal welfare laws and debates about the rights and protections afforded to non-human animals. It also features in discussions about the ethical status of artificial systems, though most scientists and ethicists currently reserve sentience for beings with subjective experience rather than machines.

Science and artificial intelligence: In biology, evidence of sentience is discussed for many mammals, birds, and some invertebrates, based on behavioral cues and neural processes related to pain and emotion. Contemporary AI systems are not regarded as sentient, as they lack subjective experience; future developments in AI ethics consider the possibility and implications of machine sentience.

See also: consciousness, self-awareness, animal welfare, philosophy of mind.