“Dogs, Cats, and Sentientism”

Animals have long supported human life, from their non-consensual role in our diets to their loving place in our homes. Humans often go to great lengths to care for them: rescuing wild animals in distress or feeding feral ones. Hugh will share two stories—one about dogs and one about cats—that illustrate caring relationships between species. He’ll ask if we should honor those relationships by helping humanism evolve into “sentientism:” a worldview that extends compassion and ethical consideration to all entities capable of experiencing, flourishing, and suffering.

Hugh Taft-Morales serves as Leader of the Philadelphia Ethical Society and the Baltimore Ethical Society and is a member of the Ethical Action Committee of the American Ethical Union (AEU).  Hugh taught philosophy and history for twenty-five years in Washington, D. C., after which he transitioned into Ethical Culture Leadership.  In April of 2009 he graduated from the Humanist Institute and was certified as an Ethical Culture Leader by the AEU in 2010.