Excellent discussion! There seem to be two separate issues being discusses here; whether a race such as orcs is inherently evil; and whether orcs possessed sentience. My favorite letter by JRRT (one which Sharku quoted earlier) addresses both issues.
As to the evil nature of Orcs, Tolkien said this:
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"But if they 'fell', as the Diabolus Morgoth did, and started making things 'for himself, to be their Lord', these would then 'be', even if Morgoth broke the supreme ban against making other 'rational' creatures like Elves or Men. They would at least 'be' real physical realities in the physical world, however evil they might prove, even 'mocking' the Children of God. They would be Morgoth's greatest Sins, abuses of his highest privilege, and would be creatures begotten of Sin, and naturally bad. (I nearly wrote 'irredeemably bad'; but that would be going too far. Because by accepting or tolerating their making – necessary to their actual existence – even Orcs would become part of the World, which is God's and ultimately good.) " (Letter 153)
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As to Orcish sentience, he said this:
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"It is not true of the Orcs - who are fundamentally a race of 'rationally incarnate' creatures, though horribly corrupted..." (Letter 153)
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Thus Orcs are not irredeemably evil, though it might be difficult to conceive of how one might be healed of evil, and are nonetheless rational beings.
[ July 30, 2003: Message edited by: Mithadan ]