Embark on a captivating journey through the intricate emotional landscapes of Earth's diverse creatures in this compelling book. " The Overlooked Sentience" delves deep into the universal sentiments of Joy, Love, Fear, Anger, and Sadness, revealing how these emotions transcend humanity and resonate across all living organisms. Through four poignant fictional narratives, you'll meet extraordinary beings like Rani, the courageous Tigress, who fights against relentless poachers to protect her vulnerable cubs. Witness Rose, the devoted Mother whale, navigating the threats of whaling while nurturing her calf, Phil, within a tight-knit pod of Sperm whales. Daisy, a resilient cow, unveils the harsh realities of farm animals whose lives are marked by exploitation and betrayal at the hands of humans . Meanwhile, Grace, the wise Elephant Matriarch, speaks out against the injustice of trophy hunting, showcasing the retaliatory capacity of these majestic creatures. As you immerse yourself in these gripping tales, you'll confront the harsh truth of human greed and its devastating impact on wildlife. This book serves as a clarion call for change, urging us to reevaluate our treatment of sentient beings and champion a paradigm shift toward respect and empathy.

"The assumption that humans are cognitively and morally superior to other animals is fundamental to social democracies and legal systems worldwide. It legitimises treating members of other animal species as inferior to humans. The last few decades have seen a growing awareness of this issue, as evidence continues to show that individuals of many other species have rich mental, emotional and social lives. Bringing together leading experts from a range of disciplines, this volume identifies the key barriers to a definition of moral respect that includes nonhuman animals. It sets out to increase concern, empathy and inclusiveness by developing strategies that can be used to protect other animals from exploitation in the wild and from suffering in captivity. The chapters link scientific data with normative and philosophical reflections, offering unique insight into controversial issues around the ethical, political and legal status of other species"--

This volume tackles a quickly-evolving field of inquiry, mapping the existing discourse as part of a general attempt to place current developments in historical context; at the same time, breaking new ground in taking on novel subjects and pursuing fresh approaches. The term "A.I." is used to refer to a broad range of phenomena, from machine learning and data mining to artificial general intelligence. The recent advent of more sophisticated AI systems, which function with partial or full autonomy and are capable of tasks which require learning and 'intelligence', presents difficult ethical questions, and has drawn concerns from many quarters about individual and societal welfare, democratic decision-making, moral agency, and the prevention of harm. This work ranges from explorations of normative constraints on specific applications of machine learning algorithms today-in everyday medical practice, for instance-to reflections on the (potential) status of AI as a form of consciousness with attendant rights and duties and, more generally still, on the conceptual terms and frameworks necessarily to understand tasks requiring intelligence, whether "human" or "A.I."

Tucked away in the Himalayan mountains is the peaceful kingdom of Bhutan. Its mystery and beauty is impossible to overlook as is the uncommon relationship that exists among the sentient beings of the region. Pure-hearted locals reside in harmony with every inhabitant of the land, as they, too, believe that all living beings have souls. In Bhutan, its residents abide by the wisdom of the Buddha who expounded that sentient beings currently living in the animal realm have been our family and friends in past incarnations. Therefore, stray dogs peacefully co-exist in the kingdom alongside humans and other animals. Through beautiful photography, original artwork, and other creative inspiration, the extraordinary bond between humans and dogs is highlighted as each species supports the other’s needs. In this inspirational tale of love, both humans and dogs are accorded respect as fellow sentient beings within a peaceful kingdom, demonstrating that loving compassion carries responsibility for all life.

What is it like 'on the inside' for nonhuman animals? Do they feel anything? Most people happily accept that dogs, for example, share many experiences and feelings with us. But what about simpler creatures? Fish? Honeybees? Crabs? Turning to the artificial realm, what about robots? This book presents answers to these questions.

At the heart of every bee hive is a queen bee. Since her well-being is linked to the well-being of the entire colony, the ability to find her among the residents of the hive is an essential beekeeping skill. In QueenSpotting, experienced beekeeper and professional “swarm catcher” Hilary Kearney challenges readers to “spot the queen” with 48 fold-out visual puzzles — vivid up-close photos of the queen hidden among her many subjects. QueenSpotting celebrates the unique, fascinating life of the queen bee chronicles of royal hive happenings such as The Virgin Death Match, The Nuptual Flight — when the queen mates with a cloud of male drones high in the air — and the dramatic Exodus of the Swarm from the hive. Readers will thrill at Kearney’s adventures in capturing these swarms from the strange places they settle, including a Jet Ski, a couch, a speed boat, and an owl’s nesting box. Fascinating, fun, and instructive, backyard beekeepers and nature lovers alike will find reason to return to the pages again and again. This publication conforms to the EPUB Accessibility specification at WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Can octopuses feel pain and pleasure? What about crabs, shrimps, insects or spiders? How do we tell whether a person unresponsive after severe brain injury might be suffering? When does a fetus in the womb start to have conscious experiences? Could there even be rudimentary feelings in miniature models of the human brain, grown from human stem cells? And what about AI? These are questions about the edge of sentience, and they are subject to enormous, disorienting uncertainty. We desperately want certainty, but it is out of reach. The stakes are immense, and neglecting the risks can have terrible costs. We need to err on the side of caution, yet it's often far from clear what 'erring on the side of caution' should mean in practice. When are we going too far? When are we not doing enough? The Edge of Sentience presents a comprehensive precautionary framework designed to help us reach ethically sound, evidence-based decisions despite our uncertainty. The book is packed with specific, detailed proposals intended to generate discussion and debate. At no point, however, does it offer any magic tricks to make our uncertainty go away. Uncertainty is with us for the long term. We must manage our uncertainty by taking precautions that are proportionate to the risks. It's time to start debating what those steps should be.