--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If chimpanzees have consciousness, if…" description: "\"If chimpanzees have consciousness, if they are capable of abstractions, do they not have what until now has been described as 'human rights'? How smart..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/carl-sagan-160_abstraction_if-chimpanzees-have-consciousness-if-the_387130.jpg" --- # If chimpanzees have consciousness, if they are capable of… ![“If chimpanzees have consciousness, if they are capable of abstractions, do they not have what until now has been described as 'human rights'? How smart does a chimp have to be before killing him constitutes murder?” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/carl-sagan-160_abstraction_if-chimpanzees-have-consciousness-if-the_387130.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/carl-sagan-160_abstraction_if-chimpanzees-have-consciousness-if-the_387130.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7b/carl-sagan-160_abstraction_if-chimpanzees-have-consciousness-if-the_387130.jpg) > “If chimpanzees have consciousness, if they are capable of abstractions, do they not have what until now has been described as 'human rights'? How smart does a chimp have to be before killing him constitutes murder?” [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If non‑human animals possess consciousness and abstract thought, they may merit moral considerations similar to human rights, raising ethical questions about killing them. **In simple terms:** Conscious animals might deserve rights similar to humans. Key Takeaway Consider extending moral rights beyond humans. Themes ethics animal rights consciousness law philosophy Mood thoughtful concerned Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - research labs - zoos - wildlife conservation - legal policy Key Concepts sentience moral status speciesism Questions to Reflect On - What criteria should determine moral rights for animals? - How do we balance scientific research with animal welfare? A Different Perspective Human legal frameworks may not easily accommodate non‑human rights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Capable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capable/) [Chimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimp/) [Chimp Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimp-killing-3500146/) [Chimpanzees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimpanzees/) [Chimpanzees Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimpanzees-consciousness-3500145/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Does Chimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/does-chimp-3500147/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Human rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-rights/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Killing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/killing/) [Murder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murder/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smart/) ## Related quotes > [How smart does a chimp have to be before killing him constitutes murder?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/how-smart-does-a-chimp-have-to-be-before-killing-him-constitutes/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Humans cannot produce viable offspring with our closest animal cousin: the chimpanzee. We cannot impregnate a chimp. So you know what that means? No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hardwick/humans-cannot-produce-viable-offspring-with-our-closest-animal-cousin/) [Chris Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hardwick/) > [The chimpanzee and the human share about 99.5 percent of their evolutionary history, yet most human thinkers regard the chimp as a malformed, irrelevant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-trivers/the-chimpanzee-and-the-human-share-about-99-5-percent-of-their/) [Robert Trivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-trivers/) > [“Watching our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, is reading the first chapter of human-being’s adventures in this universe!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/watching-our-closest-living-relatives-the-chimpanzees-is-reading-the/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Chimps can do all sorts of things we thought that only we could do - like tool-making and abstraction and generalisation. They can learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/chimps-can-do-all-sorts-of-things-we-thought-that-only-we-could-do/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [When you meet chimps you meet individual personalities. When a baby chimp looks at you it's just like a human baby. We have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/when-you-meet-chimps-you-meet-individual-personalities-when-a-baby/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [Not even the type that we consider a pimp, youre out ya monkey ass mind the type we consider a chimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stack-bundles/not-even-the-type-that-we-consider-a-pimp-youre-out-ya-monkey-ass/) [Stack Bundles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stack-bundles/) > [A chimp would never plan to pull another's nails out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/a-chimp-would-never-plan-to-pull-another-s-nails-out/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [There are certain characteristics that define a good chimp mother. She is patient, she is protective but she is not over-protective - that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/there-are-certain-characteristics-that-define-a-good-chimp-mother-she/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [Basically, we are all chimps. The human side is at the front of our forehead, but the chimp is the part that lashes out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-bellamy/basically-we-are-all-chimps-the-human-side-is-at-the-front-of-our/) [Craig Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-bellamy/) > [I can tell in two minutes if I should hire someone in the kitchen. Two minutes. It's his desire. It's that open-eyed, attentive expression.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-batali/i-can-tell-in-two-minutes-if-i-should-hire-someone-in-the-kitchen-two/) [Mario Batali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-batali/) > [“We're allowed to go on living happy, healthy lives because tens of thousands of animals like this chimp sacrifice their lives. But all people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m/we-re-allowed-to-go-on-living-happy-healthy-lives-because-tens-of/) [M](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m/) > [“If you wake during the night, any thoughts and feelings you might have are from your Chimp and they are often very disturbing, catastrophic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-wake-during-the-night-any-thoughts-and-feelings-you-might-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not much for cats. I'm terrified of mice. I've worked a lot with elephants, and they are extremely intelligent and sensitive, and thankfully,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/i-m-not-much-for-cats-i-m-terrified-of-mice-i-ve-worked-a-lot-with/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [I had bought two male chimps from a primate colony in Holland. They lived next to each other in separate cages for several months…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiaan-barnard/i-had-bought-two-male-chimps-from-a-primate-colony-in-holland-they/) [Christiaan Barnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiaan-barnard/) ## More by Carl Sagan > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/on-the-scale-of-worlds-to-say-nothing-of-stars-or-galaxies-humans-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-one-of-us-is-in-the-cosmic-perspective-precious-if-a-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-our-time-we-have-sifted-the-sands-of-mars-we-have-established-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ “\[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :\] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-about-fulfilled-prophecies-he/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Don't judge everyone else by your own limited experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/don-t-judge-everyone-else-by-your-own-limited-experience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. 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We humans are one species and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-tiny-blue-dot-set-in-a-sunbeam-here-it-is-that-s-where-we-live-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/humans-who-enslave-castrate-experiment-on-and-fillet-other-animals/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every star may be a sun to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-star-may-be-a-sun-to-someone/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Explore all 1,043 Carl Sagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. 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