This chapter tackles the ancient Problem of Other Minds and shows how to replace paralyzing skepticism with auditable, Bayesian governance. Using priors, the 4C Test, risk‑asymmetric thresholds, and the Consciousness Status Report (CSR), it turns “Is it conscious?” into a structured procedure for justified protection of humans, animals, AI, and institutions

How can we know another mind is conscious, especially when consciousness is discontinuous or distributed? Paper 7 builds a Bayesian epistemology from observable integration work. The 4C Test (Competence, Cost, Consistency, Constraint-Responsiveness) quantifies evidence. Risk-asymmetric thresholds (T_ignore, T_precaution, T_full) translate probability into duty. The Consciousness Status Report (CSR) makes epistemic claims auditable and governable. Certainty is impossible; just