Preliminary thoughts on moral weight

Abstract

To weigh the interests of different moral agents against each other, one approach is to consider the moral weight of each agent’s conscious experience. Different dimensions of conscious experience may influence its moral weight, such as its duration, intensity, unity, and freedom from negative mental states. While our moral intuitions may suggest that some of these features are more important than others, further research is needed to determine which of these features are most relevant and how they can be measured. Assigning precise moral weights to different species is difficult due to multiple factors, and arriving at a definitive and universally accepted set of moral weights may not be possible. – AI-generated abstract.