Why the Question of Animal Consciousness Might Not Matter Very Much
| dc.contributor.author | Carruthers, Peter | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2007-03-16T17:06:23Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2007-03-16T17:06:23Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2005-02 | |
| dc.description.abstract | According to higher-order thought accounts of phenomenal consciousness (e.g. Carruthers, 2000) it is unlikely that many non-human animals undergo phenomenally conscious experiences. Many people believe that this result would have deep and far-reaching consequences. More specifically, they believe that the absence of phenomenal consciousness from the rest of the animal kingdom must mark a radical and theoretically significant divide between ourselves and other animals, with important implications for comparative psychology. I shall argue that this belief is mistaken. Since phenomenal consciousness might be almost epiphenomenal in its functioning within human cognition, its absence in animals may signify only relatively trivial differences in cognitive architecture. Our temptation to think otherwise arises partly as a side-effect of imaginative identification with animal experiences, and partly from mistaken beliefs concerning the aspects of common-sense psychology that carry the main explanatory burden, whether applied to humans or to non-human animals. | en |
| dc.format.extent | 126894 bytes | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Peter Carruthers "Why the Question of Animal Consciousness Might Not Matter Very Much," Philosophical Psychology, Vol. 18, No. 1, February 2005, p. 83-102. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1903/4341 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Taylor and Francis Group | en |
| dc.relation.isAvailableAt | College of Arts & Humanities | en_us |
| dc.relation.isAvailableAt | Philosophy | en_us |
| dc.relation.isAvailableAt | Digital Repository at the University of Maryland | en_us |
| dc.relation.isAvailableAt | University of Maryland (College Park, Md.) | en_us |
| dc.rights.license | Taylor and Francis Group, Philosophical Psychology: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/routledge/09515089.html | en |
| dc.subject | higher-order thought | en |
| dc.subject | phenomenal consciousness | en |
| dc.subject | comparative psychology | en |
| dc.subject | human cognition | en |
| dc.title | Why the Question of Animal Consciousness Might Not Matter Very Much | en |
| dc.type | Article | en |