Minds Of Their Own: Thinking And Awareness In Animals

by Rogers,Lesley J

• ISBN13: 9780813390659
• ISBN10: 0813390656
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1998-07-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Do Animals have ideas? Do they experience pain like humans? Do they think about objects that they cannot see? About situations that have occurred in the past? Do they consciously make plans for the future or do they simply react unthinkingly to objects as they appear and situations as they arise? All of these questions have bearing on whether or not animals have consciousness. The advent of computers that "think" has lead us to consider "intelligence" in a way we never thought possible a decade ago. But when and how does information processing in the brain become automatic?InMinds of Their Own,Lesley J. Rogers examines the issue of animal thought both sympathetically and critically by looking at the different behavior characteristics of a variety of animals, the evolution of the brain and when consciousness might have evolved. To most people, to be conscious means to be aware of oneself as well as to be aware of others. But does this hold true for animals? The answer may have implications which transcend mere scientific inquiry: if animals are cognizant creatures, what, if any, moral responsibility do humans have to assure their rights? This timely book examines this issue and others by emphasizing comparisons between humans and animals: how we evolved; how we remember; how we learn.

Author Biography

Leslie J. Rogers holds a Personal Chair at the University of New England, Australia.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	vii	(2)
Acknowledgements	ix
1 NOT SIMPLY MACHINES	1	(14)
2 AWARENESS OF SELF AND OTHERS	15	(40)
Developing an awareness of self	16	(7)
Self-recognition in mirrors	23	(8)
Awareness of others	31	(2)
Following the direction of gaze of others and imitation	33	(4)
Awareness and communication	37	(4)
Teaching	41	(1)
Reading another's mind state	42	(2)
Deception	44	(7)
Intentionality	51	(2)
Suffering with others	53	(2)
3 MENTAL IMAGES, MEMORY AND INTELLIGENCE	55	(35)
Intelligence or `intelligences'	56	(4)
Versatility/adaptability	60	(1)
Problem solving and insight	61	(7)
Categorisation and concept formation	68	(3)
Memory abilities	71	(4)
Mental representations	75	(1)
Mental images of hidden objects	76	(5)
Tool using	81	(7)
What can we conclude?	88	(2)
4 EVOLVING A BRAIN FOR CONSCIOUSNESS	90	(40)
Brain size and evolution	91	(16)
Evolution of the neocortex/isocortex	107	(8)
A leap in neocortical size with humans?	115	(4)
Lateralisation of the brain	119	(10)
What can we conclude?	129	(1)
5 EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN BRAIN AND MIND	130	(35)
The expanding brain	136	(2)
Standing on our hind limbs	138	(4)
Handedness	142	(6)
Tool using	148	(5)
Language	153	(5)
Mental representations and art	158	(3)
Society, superstitions and the hominid mind	161	(2)
What can we conclude?	163	(2)
6 FUTURE RESEARCH ON ANIMAL MINDS	165	(16)
Attitudes and the case for or against consciousness	166	(5)
Individuality and problems for testing	171	(2)
Learning from communication with other species	173	(3)
Asking an ape about its inner thoughts	176	(2)
Brain waves and molecules of the mind	178	(1)
Easy and hard problems of consciousness	179	(2)
7 THINKING, FEELING AND ANIMAL RIGHTS	181	(15)
Animals as individuals and identities lost	182	(3)
Do domestic animals have lesser minds?	185	(1)
Consciousness and animal welfare	186	(4)
Moving the barrier: The Great Ape Project	190	(5)
The future of thinking in animals	195	(1)
Further Reading	196	(11)
Index	207