Prolegomena – Sensitive and sentient animals: definitions and transdisciplinary issues

Astrid GUILLAUME is Associate Professor (HDR) and semiotician at Sorbonne University.

Progress in zoobiology and ethology has allowed us to discover different forms of animal intelligence and sensitivity. But what is hidden behind these words? How to use them and for which animals? This conference will present the history of the word sentience and the importance of its use on the linguistic, scientific, legal, societal and ecological levels.

This international colloquium, supported by the MRSH, was organized under the aegis of the Normandy Chair for Peace, with the support of the Demolombe Institute, Caen la Mer and the University of Caen Normandy. The event was placed under the high patronage of Jean-Paul COSTA, President of the René Cassin Foundation, Honorary State Counselor and former President of the European Court of Human Rights.

This colloquium, the first of its kind in Normandy, had as its objectives to question the meaning and definition of the notion of animal sensitivity and to reflect on the implementation of innovative legal mechanisms intended for a better protection of the animal.