Launch Event

The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness was announced at The Emerging Science of Animal Consciousness Conference at New York University on April 19, 2024. You can watch the video of the event below once it becomes available.

About the event

Which other animals have the capacity for conscious experience? For a long time this question was neglected in science, but a new interdisciplinary field is now emerging to tackle it, drawing on expertise from neuroscience, psychology, evolutionary biology, animal welfare/veterinary science, the social sciences, and the humanities. While much uncertainty remains, some points of wide agreement have emerged. In this public-facing event, experts from across the field met to discuss the progress that has been made, the key points of agreement and disagreement, the most promising directions for the future, and what recognizing other animals as conscious beings means in practice for ethics and policy.

Sessions

Scientific Methodology

Kristin Andrews: The history of the science of animal consciousness

Jonathan Birch: The marker method for studying animal consciousness

Moderated by David Chalmers

Vertebrate Consciousness

Noam Miller: Evidence regarding consciousness in reptiles

Anna Wilkinson: Evidence regarding consciousness in amphibians

Becca Franks: Evidence regarding consciousness in fishes

Moderated by Kristin Andrews

Invertebrate Consciousness

Alexandra Schnell: Evidence regarding consciousness in cephalopod mollusks

Robert Elwood: Evidence regarding consciousness in decapod crustaceans

Lars Chittka: Evidence regarding consciousness in insects

Moderated by Jonathan Birch

Public Policy

Cleo Verkuijl: Public policy at the global level

Katrina Wyman: Public policy at the local level

Moderated by Jeff Sebo

This event was co-hosted by the NYU Mind, Ethics, and Policy Program and the NYU Wild Animal Welfare Program, with co-sponsorship from NYU Animal Studies, the NYU Center for Bioethics, and the NYU Center for Mind, Brain, and Consciousness.