Sentience

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Not to be confused with Sapience.

"Sentient" redirects here. For other uses, see Sentient (disambiguation).
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively.[1] Eighteenth-century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think (reason) from the ability to feel
(sentience). In modern Western philosophy, sentience is the ability to experiencesensations (known in philosophy of mind as "qualia"). In Eastern philosophy, sentience is a metaphysical quality
of all things that requires respect and care. The concept is central to the philosophy of animal rights, because sentience is necessary for the ability tosuffer, and thus is held to confer certain
rights.
Contents
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1 Philosophy and sentience

2 Ideasthesia

3 Indian religions

4 Animal welfare, rights, and sentience

5 Artificial intelligence

6 Science fiction

7 Sentience quotient

8 See also

9 References

10 Further reading

Philosophy and sentience[edit]

In the philosophy of consciousness, sentience can refer to the ability of any entity to have subjective perceptual experiences, or as some philosophers refer to them, "qualia".[2] This is distinct
from other aspects of the mind and consciousness, such as creativity,intelligence, sapience, self-awareness, and intentionality (the ability to have thoughts "about" something). Sentience is a
minimalistic way of defining consciousness, which is otherwise commonly used to collectively describe sentience plus other characteristics of the mind.
Some philosophers, notably Colin McGinn, believe that sentience will never be understood, a position known as "new mysterianism". They do not deny that most other aspects
of consciousness are subject to scientific investigation but they argue that subjective experiences will never be explained; i.e., sentience is the only aspect of consciousness that can't be
explained. Other philosophers (such as Daniel Dennett, who also denies animals to have a consciousness) disagree, arguing that all aspects of consciousness will eventually be explained by
science.[3]

Ideasthesia[edit]