ASEF Podcast (EN): Animal Dreams with David Peña-Guzmán: World of Animal Consciousness [Episode #44]
Do animals dream? And if they do, what does it reveal about their minds, and our moral responsibilities toward them?
In this episode of the ASEF Podcast, host Tanja Janko speaks with philosopher and author David Peña-Guzmán, whose groundbreaking book When Animals Dream explores the emotional, cognitive, and ethical dimensions of animal dreaming.
In this conversation we unpack why dreaming is not just a human phenomenon, how animals’ dreams challenge our definitions of consciousness, and why dreams might be a powerful argument for animal rights.
Topics include:
- The SAM model of consciousness: Subjective, Affective, Metacognitive
- Wittgenstein’s lion and the limits of human-centered thinking
- Lucid dreams in animals (and why that might change everything)
- Why dreaming is a sufficient condition for consciousness
- The deep ethical implications for how we treat non-human animals
About the author:
David Peña-Guzmán is an Associate Professor of Humanities and Comparative and World Literature at San Francisco State Universities and the author of When Animals Dream, The Hidden World of Animal Consciousness. His work bridges philosophy, neuroscience, animal ethics and consciousness. He is also a co-host of the Overthink podcast.