Research
My primary research interest is in exploring philosophical issues in the measurement of animal welfare, and how this can apply to an empirically-informed animal ethics.
Future research interests include how to identify indicators of consciousness/sentience, how the evolution and mechanisms of sentience can inform welfare measurement, performing comparisons of sentience/welfare between different species, how to quantify the badness of death for animals and how much suffering is experienced by wild animals.
Future research interests include how to identify indicators of consciousness/sentience, how the evolution and mechanisms of sentience can inform welfare measurement, performing comparisons of sentience/welfare between different species, how to quantify the badness of death for animals and how much suffering is experienced by wild animals.
Publications
Details of all publications can also be found on my Google Scholar profile
Preprints
Browning, H. (Preprint). The problem of interspecies welfare comparisons. [Download]
Browning, H. and Veit, W. (Preprint). Positive wild animal welfare. [Download]
Veit, W. and Browning, H. (Preprint). Two kinds of conceptual engineering. [Download]
Single-author
46. Browning, H. (forthcoming). Validating indicators of animal welfare. Philosophy of Science.
45. Browning, H. (forthcoming). Assessing measures of animal welfare. Biology and Philosophy.
[Download preprint]
44. Browning, H. (2022). The measurability of subjective animal welfare. Journal of Consciousness Studies. 29(3-4): 150-179
https://doi.org/10.53765/20512201.29.3.150 [Download]
43. Browning, H. (2020). If I Could Talk to the Animals: Measuring Subjective Animal Welfare. PhD Thesis (Australian National University).
https://doi.org/10.25911/5f1572fb1b5be [Download]
42. Browning, H. (2020). The natural behavior debate: Two conceptions of animal welfare. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 23(3): 325-337
https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2019.1672552 [Download preprint]
41. Browning, H. (2019). What is good for an octopus? Animal Sentience. 26(7)
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1476 [Download]
40. Browning, H. (2019). What should we do about sheep? The role of intelligence in welfare considerations. Animal Sentience. 25(23)
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1460 [Download]
39. Browning, H. (2018). Won’t somebody please think of the mammoths? De-extinction and animal welfare. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 31(6): 785-803
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-018-9755-2 [Download preprint]
38. Browning, H. (2018). No room at the zoo: Management euthanasia and animal welfare. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 31(4): 483-498
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-018-9741-8 [Download preprint]
37. Browning, H. (2018). Book Review: Zoo Ethics. Quarterly Review of Biology. 93(2): 149
https://doi.org/10.1086/698059 [Download]
36. Browning, H. (2017). Anecdotes can be evidence too. Animal Sentience. 16(13)
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1246 [Download]
Coauthored articles & book chapters
35. Crump, A., Browning, H., Schnell, A., Burn, C., and Birch, J. (2022) Sentience in decapod crustaceans: A general framework and review of the evidence. Animal Sentience. 32(1)
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1691 [Download]
34. Browning, H. & Birch, J. (2022). Animal sentience. Philosophy Compass. e12822: 1-14
https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12822 [Download]
33. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2022). The sentience shift in animal research. The New Bioethics.
https://doi.org/10.1080/20502877.2022.2077681 [Download]
32. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2022). The importance of end-of-life welfare. Animal Frontiers. 12(1): 8-15
https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfab078 [Download]
31. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2022). Why are we here? Evangelion and the desperate search for meaning in life. In Cotton, C. & Winters, A.M. (eds.) Neon Genesis Evangelion and Philosophy. Chicago: Carus Books, pp. 3-12
<Link to book> [Download preprint]
30. Birch, J., Burn, C., Schnell, A., Browning, H. & Crump, A. (2021). Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans. London: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [Download]
29. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). Freedom and animal welfare. Animals. 11(4): 1148
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11041148 [Download]
28. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Developmental programming, evolution, and animal welfare: A case for evolutionary veterinary science. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 1-13
https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2021.2014838 [Download]
27. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Phenomenology applied to animal health and suffering. In S. Ferrarello (Ed.), Phenomenology of Bioethics: Technoethics and Lived-Experience. Springer: pp. 73-88
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65613-3_6 [Download preprint]
26. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Ethics of Mixed Martial Arts. In Holt, J. & Ramsay, M. (Ed.), The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts: Squaring the Octagon. London: Routledge, pp. 134-149.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003122395-12 [Download preprint]
25. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2020). The Measurement Problem of Consciousness. Philosophical Topics. 48(1): 85-108.
https://doi.org/10.5840/philtopics20204815 [Download preprint]
24. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2020). Perspectival pluralism for animal welfare. European Journal for Philosophy of Science. 11(9). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-020-00322-9 [Download]
23. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2020). Is humane slaughter possible? Animals. 10(5): 799
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10050799 [Download]
22. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2020). Confined freedom and free confinement: The ethics of captivity in Life of Pi. In Á. T. Bogár and R. S. Szigethy (Eds.). Critical Insights: Life of Pi. Salem Press: 119-134.
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27969.38246/1 <Link to Book> [Download preprint]
21. Browning, H. & Maple, T. (2019). Developing a metric of usable space for zoo exhibits. Frontiers in Psychology. 10(791) https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00791 [Download]
20. Browning-Jones, H. & Moro, L. (2006). A multi-sensory enrichment program for ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) at Auckland Zoo, including a novel feeding device. In Proceedings of the 1st Australasian Regional Environmental Enrichment Conference (pp. 42-47).
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10908.92809 [Download]
Coauthored commentaries & book reviews
19. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (forthcoming). Social robots and the intentional stance. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
18. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (forthcoming). On the evolutionary origins of the bifocal stance. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
17. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (forthcoming). The scaffolded evolution of human communication. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
[Download preprint]
16. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (forthcoming). Life, mind, agency: Why Markov blankets fail the test of evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
[Download preprint]
15. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (forthcoming). Autism and the preference for imaginary worlds. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. [Download preprint]
14. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2022). Pathological complexity and the evolution of sex differences. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 45(149): 57-58
https://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X22000498. [Download preprint]
13. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2022). More than zombies: Considering the animal subject in de-extinction. Ethics, Policy & Environment. 25(2): 121-124
https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2022.2071552 [Download preprint]
12. Birch, J., Broom, D.M., Browning, H., Crump, A., Ginsburg, S., Halina, M., Harrison, D., Jablonka, E., Lee, A.Y., Kammerer, F. and Klein, C. (2022). How should we study animal consciousness scientifically? Journal of Consciousness Studies. 29(3-4): 8-28
https://doi.org/10.53765/20512201.29.3.008 [Download]
11. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). Evolutionary biology meets consciousness: Essay review of Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka’s The Evolution of the Sensitive Soul. Biology and Philosophy. 36(1): 5
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-021-09781-7 [Download]
10. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). Does utilitarianism need a rethink? Review of Louis Narens and Brian Skyrms’ The Pursuit of Happiness. Journal of Economic Methodology.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1350178X.2021.1985755 [Download preprint]
9. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Extending animal welfare science to include wild animals. Animal Sentience. 31(1).
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1675 [Download]
8. Birch, J. & Browning, H. (2021). Neural organoids and the precautionary principle. The American Journal of Bioethics. 21(1): 56-58.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2020.1845858 [Download preprint]
7. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). On the relevance of experimental philosophy to neuroethics. AJOB Neuroscience. 13(1): 55-57
https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2021.2001080 [Download preprint]
6. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Has the socio-political role of neuroethics been neglected? AJOB Neuroscience. 13(1): 23-25
https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2021.2001079 [Download preprint]
5. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). Utilitarian lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for non-pandemic diseases. American Journal of Bioethics. 21(12): 39-42
https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2021.1991035 [Download preprint]
4. Veit, W., Earp, B.D., Browning, H., & Savulescu, J. (2021). Evaluating trade-offs between autonomy and wellbeing in supported decision making. American Journal of Bioethics. 21(11): 21-24
https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2021.1980134 [Download preprint]
3. New England Anti-Vivisection Society, American Anti-Vivisection Society, The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund, J. Jacquet, B. Franks, J. Pungor, J. Mather, P. Godfrey-Smith, L. Marino, G. Barord, C. Safina, H. Browning, and W. Veit. (2020). Petition to Include Cephalopods as “Animals” Deserving of Humane Treatment under the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Clinic: 1–30.
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27522.30401 [Download]
2. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2020). Why socio-political beliefs trump individual morality: An evolutionary perspective. AJOB Neuroscience. 11(4): 290-292.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1830879
1. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2020). Improving invertebrate welfare. Animal Sentience. 29(4)
http://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1585 [Download]
Browning, H. (Preprint). The problem of interspecies welfare comparisons. [Download]
Browning, H. and Veit, W. (Preprint). Positive wild animal welfare. [Download]
Veit, W. and Browning, H. (Preprint). Two kinds of conceptual engineering. [Download]
Single-author
46. Browning, H. (forthcoming). Validating indicators of animal welfare. Philosophy of Science.
45. Browning, H. (forthcoming). Assessing measures of animal welfare. Biology and Philosophy.
[Download preprint]
44. Browning, H. (2022). The measurability of subjective animal welfare. Journal of Consciousness Studies. 29(3-4): 150-179
https://doi.org/10.53765/20512201.29.3.150 [Download]
43. Browning, H. (2020). If I Could Talk to the Animals: Measuring Subjective Animal Welfare. PhD Thesis (Australian National University).
https://doi.org/10.25911/5f1572fb1b5be [Download]
42. Browning, H. (2020). The natural behavior debate: Two conceptions of animal welfare. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 23(3): 325-337
https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2019.1672552 [Download preprint]
41. Browning, H. (2019). What is good for an octopus? Animal Sentience. 26(7)
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1476 [Download]
40. Browning, H. (2019). What should we do about sheep? The role of intelligence in welfare considerations. Animal Sentience. 25(23)
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1460 [Download]
39. Browning, H. (2018). Won’t somebody please think of the mammoths? De-extinction and animal welfare. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 31(6): 785-803
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-018-9755-2 [Download preprint]
38. Browning, H. (2018). No room at the zoo: Management euthanasia and animal welfare. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 31(4): 483-498
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-018-9741-8 [Download preprint]
37. Browning, H. (2018). Book Review: Zoo Ethics. Quarterly Review of Biology. 93(2): 149
https://doi.org/10.1086/698059 [Download]
36. Browning, H. (2017). Anecdotes can be evidence too. Animal Sentience. 16(13)
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1246 [Download]
Coauthored articles & book chapters
35. Crump, A., Browning, H., Schnell, A., Burn, C., and Birch, J. (2022) Sentience in decapod crustaceans: A general framework and review of the evidence. Animal Sentience. 32(1)
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1691 [Download]
34. Browning, H. & Birch, J. (2022). Animal sentience. Philosophy Compass. e12822: 1-14
https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12822 [Download]
33. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2022). The sentience shift in animal research. The New Bioethics.
https://doi.org/10.1080/20502877.2022.2077681 [Download]
32. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2022). The importance of end-of-life welfare. Animal Frontiers. 12(1): 8-15
https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfab078 [Download]
31. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2022). Why are we here? Evangelion and the desperate search for meaning in life. In Cotton, C. & Winters, A.M. (eds.) Neon Genesis Evangelion and Philosophy. Chicago: Carus Books, pp. 3-12
<Link to book> [Download preprint]
30. Birch, J., Burn, C., Schnell, A., Browning, H. & Crump, A. (2021). Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans. London: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [Download]
29. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). Freedom and animal welfare. Animals. 11(4): 1148
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11041148 [Download]
28. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Developmental programming, evolution, and animal welfare: A case for evolutionary veterinary science. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 1-13
https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2021.2014838 [Download]
27. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Phenomenology applied to animal health and suffering. In S. Ferrarello (Ed.), Phenomenology of Bioethics: Technoethics and Lived-Experience. Springer: pp. 73-88
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65613-3_6 [Download preprint]
26. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Ethics of Mixed Martial Arts. In Holt, J. & Ramsay, M. (Ed.), The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts: Squaring the Octagon. London: Routledge, pp. 134-149.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003122395-12 [Download preprint]
25. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2020). The Measurement Problem of Consciousness. Philosophical Topics. 48(1): 85-108.
https://doi.org/10.5840/philtopics20204815 [Download preprint]
24. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2020). Perspectival pluralism for animal welfare. European Journal for Philosophy of Science. 11(9). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-020-00322-9 [Download]
23. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2020). Is humane slaughter possible? Animals. 10(5): 799
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10050799 [Download]
22. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2020). Confined freedom and free confinement: The ethics of captivity in Life of Pi. In Á. T. Bogár and R. S. Szigethy (Eds.). Critical Insights: Life of Pi. Salem Press: 119-134.
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27969.38246/1 <Link to Book> [Download preprint]
21. Browning, H. & Maple, T. (2019). Developing a metric of usable space for zoo exhibits. Frontiers in Psychology. 10(791) https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00791 [Download]
20. Browning-Jones, H. & Moro, L. (2006). A multi-sensory enrichment program for ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) at Auckland Zoo, including a novel feeding device. In Proceedings of the 1st Australasian Regional Environmental Enrichment Conference (pp. 42-47).
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10908.92809 [Download]
Coauthored commentaries & book reviews
19. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (forthcoming). Social robots and the intentional stance. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
18. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (forthcoming). On the evolutionary origins of the bifocal stance. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
17. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (forthcoming). The scaffolded evolution of human communication. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
[Download preprint]
16. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (forthcoming). Life, mind, agency: Why Markov blankets fail the test of evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
[Download preprint]
15. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (forthcoming). Autism and the preference for imaginary worlds. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. [Download preprint]
14. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2022). Pathological complexity and the evolution of sex differences. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 45(149): 57-58
https://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X22000498. [Download preprint]
13. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2022). More than zombies: Considering the animal subject in de-extinction. Ethics, Policy & Environment. 25(2): 121-124
https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2022.2071552 [Download preprint]
12. Birch, J., Broom, D.M., Browning, H., Crump, A., Ginsburg, S., Halina, M., Harrison, D., Jablonka, E., Lee, A.Y., Kammerer, F. and Klein, C. (2022). How should we study animal consciousness scientifically? Journal of Consciousness Studies. 29(3-4): 8-28
https://doi.org/10.53765/20512201.29.3.008 [Download]
11. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). Evolutionary biology meets consciousness: Essay review of Simona Ginsburg and Eva Jablonka’s The Evolution of the Sensitive Soul. Biology and Philosophy. 36(1): 5
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10539-021-09781-7 [Download]
10. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). Does utilitarianism need a rethink? Review of Louis Narens and Brian Skyrms’ The Pursuit of Happiness. Journal of Economic Methodology.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1350178X.2021.1985755 [Download preprint]
9. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Extending animal welfare science to include wild animals. Animal Sentience. 31(1).
https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1675 [Download]
8. Birch, J. & Browning, H. (2021). Neural organoids and the precautionary principle. The American Journal of Bioethics. 21(1): 56-58.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2020.1845858 [Download preprint]
7. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). On the relevance of experimental philosophy to neuroethics. AJOB Neuroscience. 13(1): 55-57
https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2021.2001080 [Download preprint]
6. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2021). Has the socio-political role of neuroethics been neglected? AJOB Neuroscience. 13(1): 23-25
https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2021.2001079 [Download preprint]
5. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2021). Utilitarian lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic for non-pandemic diseases. American Journal of Bioethics. 21(12): 39-42
https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2021.1991035 [Download preprint]
4. Veit, W., Earp, B.D., Browning, H., & Savulescu, J. (2021). Evaluating trade-offs between autonomy and wellbeing in supported decision making. American Journal of Bioethics. 21(11): 21-24
https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2021.1980134 [Download preprint]
3. New England Anti-Vivisection Society, American Anti-Vivisection Society, The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society Legislative Fund, J. Jacquet, B. Franks, J. Pungor, J. Mather, P. Godfrey-Smith, L. Marino, G. Barord, C. Safina, H. Browning, and W. Veit. (2020). Petition to Include Cephalopods as “Animals” Deserving of Humane Treatment under the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Clinic: 1–30.
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27522.30401 [Download]
2. Veit, W. & Browning, H. (2020). Why socio-political beliefs trump individual morality: An evolutionary perspective. AJOB Neuroscience. 11(4): 290-292.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2020.1830879
1. Browning, H. & Veit, W. (2020). Improving invertebrate welfare. Animal Sentience. 29(4)
http://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1585 [Download]
