Consciousness and Moral Status

In: Routledge Focus on Philosophy

Abstract

In this book Joshua Shepherd presents a systematic account of the value present within conscious experience. This account emphasizes not only
the nature of consciousness, but also the importance of items within
experience such as affect, valence, and the complex overall shape of
particular valuable experiences. Shepherd also relates this account to difficult
cases involving non-humans and humans with disorders of consciousness,
arguing that the value of consciousness influences and partially explains
the degree of moral status a being possesses, without fully determining
it. The upshot is a deeper understanding of both the moral importance of
phenomenal consciousness and its relations to moral status.
This book will be of great interest to philosophers and students of ethics,
bioethics, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive
science.