Yes. I think such ethical discussions would benefit from not using the term ‘consciousness’ and instead talking about more specific, clearer (even if still not entirely clear) concepts like ‘suffering’ and ‘pleasure’. I think such discussions often fail to make much progress because one or more sides to the discussion cycles through using ‘consciousness’ in the sense of Magical Token of Moral Worth, then in the sense of self-awareness, then in the sense of ‘able to feel pain’, and so forth.
Yes. I think such ethical discussions would benefit from not using the term ‘consciousness’ and instead talking about more specific, clearer (even if still not entirely clear) concepts like ‘suffering’ and ‘pleasure’. I think such discussions often fail to make much progress because one or more sides to the discussion cycles through using ‘consciousness’ in the sense of Magical Token of Moral Worth, then in the sense of self-awareness, then in the sense of ‘able to feel pain’, and so forth.