Animal Minds
eBook - ePub

Animal Minds

Beyond Cognition to Consciousness

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Animal Minds

Beyond Cognition to Consciousness

About this book

In Animal Minds, Donald R. Griffin takes us on a guided tour of the recent explosion of scientific research on animal mentality. Are animals consciously aware of anything, or are they merely living machines, incapable of conscious thoughts or emotional feelings? How can we tell? Such questions have long fascinated Griffin, who has been a pioneer at the forefront of research in animal cognition for decades, and is recognized as one of the leading behavioral ecologists of the twentieth century.

With this new edition of his classic book, which he has completely revised and updated, Griffin moves beyond considerations of animal cognition to argue that scientists can and should investigate questions of animal consciousness. Using examples from studies of species ranging from chimpanzees and dolphins to birds and honeybees, he demonstrates how communication among animals can serve as a "window" into what animals think and feel, just as human speech and nonverbal communication tell us most of what we know about the thoughts and feelings of other people. Even when they don't communicate about it, animals respond with sometimes surprising versatility to new situations for which neither their genes nor their previous experiences have prepared them, and Griffin discusses what these behaviors can tell us about animal minds. He also reviews the latest research in cognitive neuroscience, which has revealed startling similarities in the neural mechanisms underlying brain functioning in both humans and other animals. Finally, in four chapters greatly expanded for this edition, Griffin considers the latest scientific research on animal consciousness, pro and con, and explores its profound philosophical and ethical implications.

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Yes, you can access Animal Minds by Donald R. Griffin in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Cognitive Psychology & Cognition. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Copyright
  3. Title Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Preface
  7. 1. In Favor of Animal Consciousness
  8. 2. Objections and Their Limitations
  9. 3. Finding Food
  10. 4. Predation
  11. 5. Construction of Artifacts
  12. 6. Tools and Special Devices
  13. 7. Categories and Concepts
  14. 8. Physiological Indices of Thinking
  15. 9. Communication as Evidence of Thinking
  16. 10. Symbolic Communication
  17. 11. Deception and Manipulation
  18. 12. Dolphins and Apes
  19. 13. The Philosophical and Ethical Significance of Animal Consciousness
  20. 14. The Scientific Significance of Animal Consciousness
  21. Bibliography
  22. Index