What Even Is Sentientism? Exploring a Non Religious Worldview with Jamie Woodhouse

This week, I am joined by Jamie Woodhouse, who has been doing an absolute power of work building a global community for Sentientists. Sentientism is a fascinating non-religious worldview that broadens our circle of moral consideration to include all sentient beings, rather than just focusing solely on humanity the way traditional Humanism does.

It was so refreshing to explore a new way to think about non-religious ideas, and there are so many brilliant concepts here that can be taken straight back to the RMPS classroom. We discuss what Sentientism actually is, how it applies to moral issues like Animal Rights, Justice, and Conflict, and even touch on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence—if a robot becomes sentient, does it have rights? We also explore how Sentientism could be used as an engaging non-religious worldview in the Higher Origins topic!

In this episode, we discuss:

• What is Sentientism? The core pillars of evidence, reason, and compassion.

• Humanism vs. Sentientism: Where do we draw the line on who matters?

• Classroom Application: Using Sentientism to teach Animal Ethics, Justice, Conflict, and even Medical Ethics.

• The AI Debate: Should a robot have rights, and why we should probably be saying "please" and "thank you" to ChatGPT.

• Higher RMPS: Could Sentientism be the perfect worldview for assignments or the Origins topic?

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

• Jamie's Website: Sentientism.info (Check out the highly recommended FAQ section!)

• RE:Online Guide: A Guide to Sentientism

• Get in touch with Jamie: hello@sentientism.info

• Previous Episode: Listen to my chat with Fiona Moss

Updates & Housekeeping: 

New on the TES Store: I’ve just dropped some brand-new resources to keep your lessons highly topical, including units on Louis Theroux & The Manosphere, the Assisted Dying Bill, and Higher Sikhism. Picking up these bigger units directly funds the hosting for this podcast and the website—at least until the massive corporate sponsorships start rolling in!

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STARME Festival of Learning: Tickets are officially available! Grab yours and come join the biggest gathering for RME and RMPS teachers in Scotland. Link to Tickets

Join the Conversation: I would love to know: Would you consider including Sentientism in your curriculum as a non-religious worldview? Let me know your thoughts!

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• Email: learningrmps@gmail.com