Organised jointly by Global Epistemologies and the Forum on Decentring the Human, in this talk Jonathan Birch (LSE) and Andrew Crump (Royal Veterinary College and LSE), joined John Adenitire (QMUL) to discuss what counts as evidence of animal sentience and how it relates to their legal protection. Moderated by Mario Slugan (QMUL).
Jonathan Birch is a Professor of Philosophy at the LSE and Principal Investigator (PI) on the Foundations of Animal Sentience project. He mainly works on animal sentience, cognition and welfare and the evolution of altruism and social behaviour. He joined the LSE in 2014. Before moving to London, he was a Junior Research Fellow at Christ’s College, Cambridge. He was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2014.
Andrew Crump is a Lecturer in Animal Cognition & Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College. Specialising in invertebrates, he studies questions like: Which animals are sentient? Why did sentience evolve? And what does sentience mean for animal welfare? Andrew previously worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Animal Sentience at the LSE. In this role, he was part of a team that influenced the UK government to protect certain invertebrates under animal welfare law. Andrew completed his PhD in Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast in 2020.