The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness

The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness

Which animals have the capacity for conscious experience? While much uncertainty remains, some points of wide agreement have emerged.

First, there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds.

Second, 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).

Third, when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal. We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks.

The individual authors and signatories of this declaration are signing in their personal capacity and not on behalf of any institution or organization.

Kristin Andrews

Professor of Philosophy, York Research Chair in Animal Minds

York University

Jonathan Birch

Professor of Philosophy

London School of Economics and Political Science

Jeff Sebo

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies; Director of the Mind, Ethics, and Policy Program

New York University

Colin Allen
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
University of California, Santa Barbara

Konstantin Anokhin

Professor, Institute for Advanced Brain Studies

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Andrew Barron

Professor, School of Natural Sciences; Director, the Macquarie Minds and Intelligences Initiative

Macquarie University

Culum Brown 

Professor, School of Natural Sciences

Macquarie University

Gordon M. Burghardt

Alumni Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

David Chalmers

University Professor of Philosophy and Neural Science

New York University

Lars Chittka

Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology

Queen Mary University of London

Nicola S. Clayton FRS

Professor of Comparative Cognition

University of Cambridge

Robyn Crook

Associate Professor of Biology

San Francisco State University

David B. Edelman

Visiting Scholar, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College

Senior Research Scientist, Association for Cephalopod Research (CephRes), Naples IT

Robert Elwood

Emeritus Professor of Animal Behaviour

Queen's University Belfast

Becca Franks

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

New York University

Matilda Gibbons

Postdoctoral Researcher, Perelman School of Medicine

University of Pennsylvania

Martin Giurfa

Exceptional-Class Professor of Neurosciences

Sorbonne University

Peter Godfrey-Smith

Professor, School of History and Philosophy of Science

University of Sydney

Simona Ginsburg

Associate Professor of Neurobiology (Retired)

Open University of Israel

Stevan Harnad

Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal
Editor in Chief, Animal Sentience

Eva Jablonka

Emeritus Professor, History and Philosophy of Science

Tel Aviv University

Christof Koch

President and Chief Scientist

Allen Institute for Brain Science

Jon Mallatt

Clinical Professor, WWAMI Medical Education Program

University of Washington at the University of Idaho

Jennifer Mather

Professor of Psychology

University of Lethbridge

Noam Miller

Associate Professor of Psychology and Biology

Wilfrid Laurier University

Liad Mudrik

Professor, School Of Psychological Sciences

Tel Aviv University

Lucia Melloni

Research Professor of Neurology

New York University School of Medicine

Diana Reiss

Professor of Psychology; Director of the Animal Behavior & Conservation MA Program

Hunter College

Irene M. Pepperberg

Research Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Boston University

Alexandra Schnell

Research Fellow

University of Cambridge

Anil Seth

Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience

University of Sussex

Anindya "Rana" Sinha

Professor of Animal Behaviour and Cognition

National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS)

MV (Srini) Srinivasan FRS

Emeritus Professor, Queensland Brain Institute

The University of Queensland

Narayanan Srinivasan

Professor, Department of Cognitive Science

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi

Scientist

Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru

Bruno van Swinderen

Professor, Queensland Brain Institute

The University of Queensland

Naotsugu Tsuchiya

Professor, School of Psychological Sciences

Monash University

Cleo Verkuijl

Scientist

Stockholm Environment Institute

Anna Wilkinson

Professor of Animal Cognition, Department of Life Sciences

University of Lincoln

Katrina Wyman

Wilf Family Professor of Property Law; Director of the Environmental and Energy Law LLM Program

New York University School of Law

Yossi Yovel

Associate Professor, School of Zoology, Sagol School of Neuroscience

Tel Aviv University

Meghan Barrett

Assistant Professor of Biology

Indiana University Indianapolis

Ralph Acampora

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Hofstra University

Gregory Tague

Former Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies

St. Francis College

Emma Curran

Postdoctoral Associate

Rutgers University

Maria José Hötzel

Professor, Department of Animal Science and Rural Development

Federal University of Santa Catarina

Kathie Jenni

Professor of Philosophy; Founding Director of Human-Animal Studies

University of Redlands

Oscar Horta

Associate Professor of Philosophy

University of Santiago de Compostela

Leonard Katz

Associate of the Department of Philosophy

Harvard University

Faraz Harsini

Chief Executive Officer

Allied Scholars for Animal Protection

Julio Penagos-Corzo

Professor, Department of Psychology

Universidad de las Américas Puebla

Andrew Knight

Veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare

Griffith University

François-Xavier Dechaume-Moncharmont

Full Professor of Animal Behaviour

University Claude-Bernard Lyon 1

Manuel E. dos Santos

Associate Professor of Behavioral Biology

Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre-ISPA

Ana Cristina Ramírez Barreto

Professor, Philosophy of Culture

Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo

Christiane Bailey

Researcher, Philosophy and Animal Ethics

Concordia University

Stacy Lopresti-Goodman

Professor of Psychology

Marymount University

Michael Pardo

Postdoctoral Fellow, K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Lucia Regolin

Full Professor, Animal Psychology and Animal Cognition, School of Psychology

University of Padova

Maristela Martins de Camargo

Associate Professor of Immunology

University of São Paulo

Jonathan Balcombe

Ethologist and Author

Former Director of Animal Sentience, Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy

Cynthia Schuck-Paim

Scientific Director

Center for Welfare Metrics

Simon Brown

Research Officer in Animal Sentience

London School of Economics and Political Science

Robert Biegler

Professor, Department of Psychology

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Ricardo Rozzi

Professor, Philosophy & Religion/Biological  Sciences

University of North Texas

Amrita Narlikar

Honorary Fellow, Darwin College

University of Cambridge

Siiri Tarrikas

Junior Researcher  in Semiotics and Culture Studies

University of Tartu

Irina Frasin

Senior Researcher in Anthrozoology

Gheorghe Zane Economic and Social Research Institute

Danielle Free

Animal Behaviourist

Marwell Wildlife

Gerard de Melo

Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems

Hasso Plattner Institute / University of Potsdam

Juliana Dániel-Ferreira

Researcher, Ecology

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Elodie F. Briefer

Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolution

University of Copenhagen

Ulrich Pfeffer

Head of the Functional Genomics Lab

San Martino Hospital, National Institute for Cancer Research, Genoa

Maarten Reesink

Senior lecturer in Animal Studies

Universiteit van Amsterdam

Patrizia d'Ettorre

Exceptional-Class Professor in Ethology

University Sorbonne Paris Nord

Sarah Skeels-Jungius

Postdoctoral Research Assistant, School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences

Queen Mary University of London

Guiomar Rotllant

Senior Researcher, Physiology and Reproduction of Crustaceans

Institut de Ciències del Mar

Per Jensen

Professor of Ethology

Linköping University

G. William Farthing

Emeritus Professor of Psychology

University of Maine

Kendra Coulter

Professor of Management and Organizational Studies; Coordinator of Animal Ethics and Sustainability Leadership

Huron University College at Western University

Eva Bernet Kempers

Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Law

University of Antwerp

Israel Gannot

Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Tel-Aviv University

Serrin Rutledge-Prior

Research Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy

Australian National University

Paul J.E. Dekker

Universitair Docent, Department of Philosophy

University of Amsterdam

Guy Baldwin

Lecturer in Public Law and Human Rights

University of Manchester

Geraldine Werhahn

Research Associate, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit

University of Oxford

Eze Paez

Professor of Philosophy of Law

Pompeu Fabra University

Martijn Egas

Associate Professor Evolution and Behaviour, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences

University of Groningen

Simon Fitzpatrick

Associate Professor of Philosophy

John Carroll University

Wolfgang Slany

Professor of Computer Science

Graz University of Technology

Marie Genevieve Guiraud

Post-Doctoral Fellow in Neuro-Cognition

Macquarie University

Orlando Arguello-Miranda

Assistant Professor, Plant and Microbial Biology Department, Miranda Lab

North Carolina State University

Annabelle Dufourcq

Associate Professor of Metaphysics and Philosophical Anthropology

Radboud University

David J. Menor-Campos

Veterinary Behaviourist, Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery

University of Cordoba

Sacha Vignieri

Deputy Editor

Science

Michael Mendl

Professor of Animal Behaviour and Welfare; Senior Vice Lead of the BBSRC Animal Welfare Research Network

University of Bristol

Shereen Chang

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Philosophy

York University

Matthew Liebman

Associate Professor and Chair of the Justice for Animals Program

University of San Francisco School of Law

Allan Leslie Combs

Professor Emeritus of Psychology

University of North Carolina- Asheville

Matthew W. Perry

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Ethics and Social & Political Philosophy

University of British Columbia

Fay Clark

Lecturer in Psychological Science

University of Bristol

Geoffrey Barstow

Associate Professor

Oregon State University

Luís A. Nunes Amaral

Erastus Otis Haven Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Northwestern University

Joshua Russell

Professor of Animal Behavior, Ecology, Conservation, & Anthrozoology

Canisius University

Andrej Elzanowski

Professor of Liberal Arts

University of Warsaw

Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal

Assistant Professor of Psychobiology and Neuroscience

Tel-Aviv University

Charles Beasley

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

LUISS in Rome

Dorna Behdadi

Lecturer of Philosophy, Linguistics & Theory of Science

University of Gothenburg

Heather Browning

Lecturer in Philosophy

University of Southampton

Lucius Caviola

Senior Research Fellow

University of Oxford

Stephen R. L. Clark

Emeritus Professor of Philosophy

University of Liverpool

Andrew Crump

Lecturer in Animal Cognition & Welfare

Royal Veterinary College

Mike Dacey

Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy

Bates College

Nicolas Delon

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

College of Charleston

Leonard Dung

Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Philosophy and AI Research

University Erlangen-Nürnberg

Nathan Faivre

Research Director, National Centre for Scientific Research

Université Grenoble Alpes

Andrew Fenton

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Dalhousie University

Josh A. Firth

Associate Professor of Behavioural Ecology

University of Leeds, UK

Bob Fischer

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Texas State University

Brian Glenney

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Norwich University

Cleo Grieve

Postgraduate Researcher, Institute of Aquaculture

University of Stirling

Jes Lynning Harfeld

Associate Professor, Department of Culture and Learning, Centre for Applied Philosophy

Aalborg University

Avram Hiller

Associate Professor of Philosophy 

Portland State University

Kristina M. Horback

Associate Professor, Applied Ethology

University of California, Davis

Colin Jerolmack

Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology

New York University

L. Syd M Johnson

Associate Professor, Center for Bioethics & Humanities

Upstate Medical University

Angelica Kaufmann

Post Doctoral Researcher, Department of Philosophy

University of Milan

Barbara J. King

Professor Emerita of Anthropology

William & Mary

Johannes Kleiner

Postdoctoral Researcher, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Mirjam Knörnschild

Professor of Evolutionary Ethology

Humboldt University of Berlin

Michael J. Kuba

Assistant Professor of Zoology

Department of Biology

University of Naples Federico II

Lori Marino

Adjunct Professor, Animal Studies

New York University

Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró

Postdoctoral Biologist, Goffin Lab, Messerli Research Institute

University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna

Georgia Mason

Professor of Integrative Biology, Col. K. L. Campbell University Chair in Animal Welfare,

Director of the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare

University of Guelph

Josh Milburn

Lecturer in Political Philosophy, Department of International Relations, Politics and History

Loughborough University

Albert Newen

Full professor of Philosophy

Institut für Philosophie II Ruhr-Universität Bochum

Leanne Proops

Associate Professor in Animal Behaviour and Welfare

University of Portsmouth

Michael J. Renner

Professor of Biology, Psychology, and Environmental Science

Drake University

Luke Roelofs

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

University of Texas, Arlington

Nissa Rudh

Fish Biologist, NOAA Fisheries

U.S. Department of Commerce

Carl Sachs

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Marymount University

Mark Sainsbury

Jesse H. Jones Professor in Liberal Arts

University of Texas at Austin

Murray Shanahan

Professor of Cognitive Robotics

Imperial College London

Henry Shevlin

Associate Director, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence

University of Cambridge

Adam Shriver

The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement

Drake University

Toni Sims

Researcher in Mind, Ethics, and Policy 

New York University

Martyna Stachaczyk

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Philosophy Logic and Scientific Method

London School of Economics

Morten Tønnessen

Professor of Philosophy

University of Stavanger, Norway

Antonella Tramacere

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

RomaTre University

Cameron Rouse Turner

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Computational Cognitive Science Lab 

Princeton University

Walter Veit

Lecturer in Philosophy

University of Reading

Elly Vintiadis

Associate Lecturer, Philosophy

The American College of Greece

Paul A. Locke

Professor, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

João Luís Vargas de Almeida Saraiva

Researcher, Center of Marine Sciences

University of Algarve

Luc Delannoy

Director

Instituto de Neuroartes

Sérgio Henrique Faria

Ikerbasque Research Professor, Director of the IzotzaLab

Basque Centre for Climate Change

Amy Dickman

Director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit

University of Oxford

William Wood

Staff Scientist, Helen Wills Neuroscience Department

University of California, Berkeley

Wladimir J. Alonso

Executive Director and Researcher

Center for Welfare Metrics

John M. Jermier

Professor of Organizational Behavior, Muma College of Business

University of South Florida

Ali Boyle

Assistant Professor Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Rafael Ruiz de Lira

PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Daniel S. Mills

Professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine

University of Lincoln

David N. Fisher

Lecturer, The School of Biological Sciences

University of Aberdeen

Beth Ventura

Senior Lecturer, Department of Life Sciences

University of Lincoln

Brigitte Baptiste

President

Universidad EAN

Robin L. Zebrowski

Professor of Cognitive Science

Beloit College

Heide Island

Professor, Comparative Animal Behavior and Neuroscience

Pacific University

Robert Kentridge

Professor, Psychology Department

Durham University

Lindsey D. Goodman

Postdoctoral Associate, Duncan Neurological Research Institute

Baylor College of Medicine

Luigi Baciadonna

Research Fellow, Neuroscience Paris Seine, Institute of Biology Paris Seine

Sorbonne University

Catherine Hobaiter

Reader Origins of Mind, School of Psychology

University of St Andrews

Carrie Figdor

Professor, Department of Philosophy and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

University of Iowa

Susana Monsó 

Associate Professor, Department of Logic, History, and Philosophy of Science

Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

Marcin Urbaniak

Associate Professor of Cognitive Science

University of the National Education Commission, Krakow

Hugh R. Wilson

Professor Emeritus, Centre for Vision Research, Department of Biology, and Department of Psychology

York University

Francesco Ellia

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Sciences for Quality of Life

University of Bologna

Efrén Álvarez Salvado

Scientist, Department of Integrative Biology

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Anastassia Depauld

Professor of Philosophy

Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf

Oliver H. P. Burman

Professor in Animal Behaviour, Cognition, and Welfare

University of Lincoln

Karen McComb

Emeritus Professor of Animal Behaviour & Cognition

University of Sussex

Holly Root-Gutteridge

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

University of Lincoln

Claudia Passos Ferreira

Assistant Professor of Bioethics 

New York University

Elizabeth Paul

Senior Lecturer

University of Bristol

Helen Lambert

Animal Welfare Scientist

Animal Welfare Consultancy

Giorgio Vallortigara

Professor of Neuroscience and Animal Cognition, Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences

University of Trento

Kurt Sladky

Clinical Professor of Zoological Medicine

University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine

Eva Read

PhD Candidate, Foundations of Animal Sentience (ASENT) Project

London School of Economics

Kathrin Herrmann

Animal Welfare Scientist, Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing

The Animal Protection Commissioner of Berlin, Senate Department for the Justice & Consumer Protection

David DeGrazia

Elton Professor of Philosophy

George Washington University

Kristina Zeljic

Neurobiologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Queen Mary University of London

Thomas Metzinger

Professor Emeritus, Philosophy Department

Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz