Ethics book review brands moderate sentience scholar as "sacrificing humans for insects and AI"
birchlse · x · 2026-10-26
The author of Edge of Sentience complains that a book review in the journal Ethics titled "Sacrificing humans for insects and AI" caricatures his moderate position. His book rests solely on the duty to avoid gratuitous suffering. Replying to Andy Masley, he clarifies he is not a utilitarian on animal welfare: he rejects "trading off" animal wellbeing against humans, instead treating animals as conscious beings entitled to basic negative rights against extreme abuse — a stance that alone implies sweeping changes to food production. He argues reviewers find it easier to refute extreme positions by branding moderates as extreme.
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