Sentience is the capacity to
feel,
perceive, or
experience subjectively. Eighteenth-century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think (
reason) from the ability to feel (
sentience). In modern Western philosophy, sentience is the ability to experience
sensations (known in
philosophy of mind as "
qualia"). In Eastern philosophy, sentience is a metaphysical quality of all things that requires respect and care. The concept is central to the philosophy of
animal rights, because sentience is necessary for the ability to
suffer, and thus is held to
confer certain rights.