Hostname: page-component-54dcc4c588-xh45t Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-11T20:26:05.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Animal Consciousness, Cognition and Welfare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

J K Kirkwood  and
R Hubrecht
J K Kirkwood*
Affiliation:
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, The Old School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire AL4 8AN, UK
R Hubrecht
Affiliation:
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, The Old School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire AL4 8AN, UK
*
† Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The level of priority and resource given to the care of organisms is influenced by beliefs and understanding about their capacities for conscious awareness. Variation in attitudes to animal welfare around the world today is partly a reflection of this. Improved understanding of the range of phenomena of which animals may be conscious is likely to lead to greater global consensus about the importance of high standards of animal welfare. This is a matter of current relevance. In the global free market there is a danger that efforts in one country to raise standards for farm or laboratory animals will be compromised by competition from others which employ cheaper, less welfare-friendly systems. Scientific developments which inform us about animals’ capacities for pleasant and unpleasant feelings will play an important role in the development of global agreement about animal welfare standards. Deciding which animals might have the capacity for consciousness, and thus for suffering, and of what they might be conscious, are fundamental issues which set boundaries to the ranges of species to be given basic or special forms of welfare protection. In practice, such lines have to be drawn and it is crucial that they are drawn in the right place. This is a difficult but essential task and society looks to scientists for guidance on the matter. There have been many developments in recent years in scientific approaches to the study of consciousness in animals which are pertinent to this debate.

Keywords

animal welfarecognitionconsciousness

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Baars, B J 1997 In the Theater of Consciousness: the Workspace of the Mind. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bekoff, M 1994 Cognitive ethology and the treatment of non-human animals: how matters of mind inform matters of welfare. Animal Welfare 3: 75–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bermond, B 1997 The myth of animal suffering. In: Dol, M, Kasanmoentalib, S, Limbach, S E, Rivas, E and van den Bos, R (eds) Animal Consciousness and Animal Ethics: Perspectives from the Netherlands pp 125–143. Van Gorcum: Assen, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Blackmore, D K, Madie, P and Barnes, G R G 1997 Observations on the electric lance and the welfare of whales: a critical appraisal. Animal Welfare 6: 43–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breidbach, O 1999 Comparing minds - a comment on beetles’ intelligence. Theory in Biosciences 118: 54–65Google Scholar
Byrne, R 1995 The Thinking Ape: Evolutionary Origins of Intelligence. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabanac, M 1979 Sensory pleasure. Quarterly Review of Biology 54: 1–29CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carruthers, P 1989 Brute experience. The Journal of Philosophy 89: 258–269CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Churchland, P M 1996 The Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul. MIT Press: Cambridge, USAGoogle Scholar
Clark, S R L 1997 Animals and Their Moral Standing. Routledge: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Crook, J H 1983 On attributing consciousness to animals. Nature 305: 11–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Damasio, A 1999 The Feeling of what Happens. William Heinemann: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, M S 1990 From an animal's point of view: motivation, fitness and animal welfare. Behavioural and Brain Sciences 13: 1–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, M 1993 Through Our Eyes Only? The Search for Animal Consciousness. Spektrum/Freeman: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Dennett, DC 1991 Consciousness Explained. Penguin Books: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Duncan, I J H and Petherick, J C 1991 The implications of cognitive processes for animal welfare. Journal of Animal Science 69: 5017–5022CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edelman, G M and Tonini, G 2000 Consciousness: how Matter Becomes Imagination. Allen Lane: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Eisemann, C H, Jorgensen, W K, Merritt, D J, Rice, M J, Cribb, B W, Webb, P D and Zalucki, M P 1984 Do insects feel pain? A biological view. Experientia 40: 164–167CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eurogroup 1999 Analysis of Major Areas of Concern for Animal Welfare in Europe, 6th edition. Eurogroup for Animal Welfare: Brussels, BelgiumGoogle Scholar
European Council 1999 Council Directive 99/74/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens. Official Journal of the European Communities L203: 53–57Google Scholar
Fiorito, G 1986 Is there ‘pain’ in invertebrates? Behavioural Processes 12: 383–388CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallup, G G 1998 Self-awareness and the evolution of social intelligence. Behavioural Processes 42: 239–247CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
GB Parliament 1986 Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. HMSO: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Griffin, D R 1992 Animal Minds. University of Chicago Press: Chicago, USAGoogle Scholar
Hume, C 1962 Man and Beast. Universities Federation for Animal Welfare: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Humphrey, N K 1987 The inner eye of consciousness. In: Blakemore, C and Greenfield, S (eds) Mindwaves. Thoughts on Intelligence, Identity and Consciousness pp 377–381. Blackwell: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, J S 1993 The New Anthropomorphism. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Kestin, S C 1995 Welfare aspects of the commercial slaughter of whales. Animal Welfare 4: 11–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LeChat, M R 1996 An argument in defence of fishing. Fisheries 21: 20–21Google Scholar
LeDoux, J 1998 The Emotional Brain. Weidenfield and Nicholson: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Macphail, E M 1998 The Evolution of Consciousness. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Midgley, M 1983 Animals and Why They Matter. Penguin Books: London, UKGoogle Scholar
New Zealand Parliament 1999 Animal Welfare Act. Available at http://rangi.knowledge-basket.co.nz/gpacts/public/text/1999/an/42.htmlGoogle Scholar
Nicol, C J 1996 Farm animal cognition. Animal Science 62: 375–391CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paul, E S and Podberscek, A L 2000 Veterinary education and students’ attitudes towards animal welfare. Veterinary Record 146: 269–272CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Premack, D and Woodruff, G 1978 Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behaviour and Brain Science 1: 515–526CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rollin, B E 1989 The Unheeded Cry. Animal Consciousness, Animal Pain and Science. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Rolls, E T 1999 The Brain and Emotion. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Ryder, R D 2000 Animal Revolution: Changing Attitudes Towards Speciesism. Berg: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Singer, P 1990 Animal Liberation, 2nd edition. Jonathon Cape: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Smith, J A and Boyd, KM 1991 Lives in the Balance - the Ethics of Using Animals in Biomedical Research. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, C W 1997 An alternative model for testing opioid analgesics and pain research using amphibians. In: van Zutphen, L F M and Balls, M (eds) Animal Alternatives, Welfare and Ethics pp 247–251. Elsevier Science BV: Amsterdam, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Taylor, J G 1999 The Race for Consciousness. MIT Press: London, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornton, P D and Main, D C J 2000 Attitudes to animal welfare. Veterinary Record 146: 355Google ScholarPubMed
Weiskrantz, L 1997 Consciousness Lost and Found. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Wise, S M 2000 Rattling the Cage: Towards Legal Rights for Animals. Perseus Books: Cambridge, USAGoogle Scholar