Jonathan Birch (philosopher)

Jonathan Birch
Birch in 2023
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (BA, MPhil, DPhil)
OrganizationLondon School of Economics and Political Science
Websitepersonal.lse.ac.uk/birchj1/

Jonathan Birch is a British philosopher and professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His work addresses the philosophy of biology and behavioural sciences, especially questions concerning sentience, bioethics, animal welfare, and the evolution of social behaviour and social norms.[1]

In 2017, he published the book The Philosophy of Social Evolution, which explores social behaviour in everything from microorganisms to humans and higher primates.[2] In 2021, he was the Principal Investigator of a review that led the UK to recognize cephalopods and decapod crustaceans as sentient.[3] In 2024, he published the book The Edge of Sentience, which examines the concept of sentience, whether artificial intelligence or animals like insects may be sentient, and how to handle the uncertainty.[4]

Education

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Birch read for a Bachelor of Arts with honours in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge from 2005 to 2008, and then an MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge from 2008 to 2009.[5] He read for a DPhil in the Philosophy of Science at Cambridge from 2009 to 2013.[5] His thesis, which was supervised by Tim Lewens, was entitled Kin Selection: A Philosophical Analysis.[6]

Career

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Birch's 2021 Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans[7] led the UK to recognize cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans as sentient.[3]

From 2012 to 2014, Birch held a Junior Research Fellowship at Christ's College, Cambridge.[5] He was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2014,[8] the same year he took up an Assistant Professorship at the Department of Philosophy Logic and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2014.[5][1] In 2017, he published his first monograph, The Philosophy of Social Evolution, with Oxford University Press. The book explores the philosophical foundations of social evolution theory, as founded by W. D. Hamilton, including Hamilton's rule, kin selection, and inclusive fitness. Birch makes the case that social evolution theory offers potential for furthering understanding of a range of areas of evolutionary science, including microbial evolution and human evolution, as well as in diverse studies of cooperation.[9] In 2018, Birch was promoted to Associate Professor.[5] From 2020, Birch was the principal investigator for the five-year Foundations of Animal Sentience (ASENT) research project at LSE, which was funded by the European Research Council. Responding to controversies around the nature and attribution of animal sentience, the project seeks to develop "a conceptual framework for thinking about sentience as an evolved phenomenon that varies along several dimensions, a deeper understanding of how these dimensions of sentience relate to measurable aspects of animal behaviour and the nervous system, and a richer picture of the links between sentience, welfare and the ethical status of animals".[10]

Birch was the lead author of a report entitled Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, published in 2021. The report recommended that cephalopods and decapod crustaceans should be considered sentient under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and other UK laws.[7] The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, when initially drafted in 2021, recognised only vertebrates as sentient. In response to Birch's report, however, the Act was amended to include cephalopods and decapods.[3] In 2023, Birch was promoted to Professor.[11]

In March 2024, Birch was appointed to the Animals in Science Committee.[11][12] Later that year, along with Jeff Sebo and Kristin Andrews, he launched the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness.[13] The declaration affirms that "there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds"; that "the empirical evidence indicates at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects)", and that "when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal".[14]

Birch's second book, The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI, was released in open access in July 2024 by Oxford University Press.[4][15] The book examines topics such as the mind-body problem, which entities can be considered sentience candidates,[a] how to handle uncertainty, reasonable precautions, policy proposals, and distinctive challenges in the case of AI.[16]

Birch was in Vox's 2024 "Future Perfect 50", a list highlighting individuals contributing to a better future.[17]

Selected publications

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Notes

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  1. ^ According to Birch, "A system S is a sentience candidate if there is an evidence base that (a) implies a realistic possibility of sentience in S that it would be irresponsible to ignore when making policy decisions that will affect S, and (b) is rich enough to allow the identification of welfare risks and the design and assessment of precautions."[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Dr Jonathan Birch". London School of Economics. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  2. ^ Birch, Jonathan (2017). The Philosophy of Social Evolution. Oxford University Press.
  3. ^ a b c Commentary:
  4. ^ a b c Birch, Jonathan (19 July 2024). The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI. Oxford University Press.
  5. ^ a b c d e Birch, Jonathan (2022). "CV" (PDF). London School of Economics. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  6. ^ Birch, Jonathan (2013). Kin Selection: A Philosophical Analysis (PDF) (Thesis). University of Cambridge.
  7. ^ a b Birch, Jonathan; Burn, Charlotte; Schnell, Alexandra; Browning, Heather; Crump, Andrew (November 2021). Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans (Report). London School of Economics. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Philip Leverhulme Prizes 2014". Leverhulme Trust. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  9. ^ Reviews:
  10. ^ "Foundations of Animal Sentience (ASENT)". London School of Economics. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Membership". GOV.UK. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Jonathan Birch appointed to the Animals in Science Committee". London School of Economics. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  13. ^ Falk, Dan (19 April 2024). "Insects and Other Animals Have Consciousness, Experts Declare". Quanta magazine.
  14. ^ "The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness". 19 April 2024.
  15. ^ Kimmelman, Jonathan (23 September 2024). "Can AI feel distress? Inside a new framework to assess sentience". Nature. 633 (8031): 761–762. doi:10.1038/d41586-024-03076-z.
  16. ^ "The Edge of Sentience: Why Drawing Lines Is So Difficult". Psychology Today. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  17. ^ Walsh, Bryan (21 November 2024). "The 2024 Future Perfect 50". Vox. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
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