Colin Allen (a philosopher) and Marc Bekoff (a cognitive ethologist) approach their work from a perspective that considers arguments about evolutionary continuity to be as applicable to the study of animal minds and brains as they are to comparative studies of kidneys, stomachs, and hearts. Cognitive ethologists study the comparative, evolutionary, and ecological aspects of the mental phenomena of animals. Philosophy can provide cognitive ethology with an analytical basis for attributing cognition to nonhuman animals and for studying it, and cognitive ethology can help philosophy to explain mentality in naturalistic terms by providing data on the evolution of cognition. This interdiscipinary approach reveals flaws in common objections to the view that animals have minds.The heart of the book is this reciprocal relationship between philosophical theories of mind and empirical studies of animal cognition. All theoretical discussion is carefully tied to case studies, particularly in the areas of antipredatory vigilance and social play, where there are many points of contact with philosophical discussions of intentionality and representation. Allen and Bekoff make specific suggestions about how to use philosophical theories of intentionality as starting points for empirical investigation of animal minds, and they stress the importance of studying animals other than nonhuman primates.
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The heart of this book is the reciprocal relationship between philosophical theories of mind and empirical studies of animalcognition.
About the Author
Marc Bekoff is Professor of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book (and a retraction of previous review),
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This review is from: Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology (Paperback)
When I read Species of Mind for the first time it was my introduction to the topic of cognitive ethology and I had no background at all in this area. I wrote a review here indicating that I did not get anything out of it. I would like to retract that. What would have been more accurate would have been that I did not appreciate it because *I* was not prepared for it. I have since read extensively on the topic and have all of Marc Bekoff's books. I now appreciate the book and consider it indispensable. Allen and Bekoff are leading researchers in this field and this book is highly important if you want to get solid current information in cognitive ethology. I HIGHLY recommend this book and retract my previous inaccurate review....P>James O'Heare...
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
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Kinds of Intelligence,
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This review is from: Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology (Paperback)
Starting from the concept of biological continuity Allen and Bekoff argue that "lower" animals may be intelligent too. One might distinguish a variety of intelligences including: i. purely reactive (reflex, radical behaviorist, table lookup) learning by evolutionary change only (learning being radically separated from performance system) ii. finite state machines (modifiable memory,possibly with explicit world model/representation, possibly with a time sense) iii. cooperative/social (communicative, specialists, language users) iv. conscious (self monitoring and self modifying, possibly explicit representation of goals, possible utility/value model with possible value change), etc. Allen and Bekoff note that "'lower' animals can outperform 'higher' animals on some cognitive tasks", what constitutes superior intelligence depends upon the niche that the animal occupies, it is not universal. I especially liked the chapter on consciousness which the authors relate to the capacity to detect misinformation and illusion.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
How widely are mental phenomena distributed in nature? Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
anecdotal cognitivism, cognitive ethologists, intentional icons, infant coyotes, cognitive ethology, antipredatory behavior, cooperating devices, behavioristic explanations, other flock members, nonhuman animal behavior, vigilance behavior, classical ethology, mentalistic explanations, intentional attributions, philosophical behaviorism, predator classification, mental continuity, animal cognition, approaching food, belief criterion, intentional account, play bows, attributing mental states, mentalistic terms, social play Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Charles Darwin, Donald Griffin, Lloyd Morgan, Clever Hans, The Question of Animal Awareness New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
How widely are mental phenomena distributed in nature? Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
anecdotal cognitivism, cognitive ethologists, intentional icons, infant coyotes, cognitive ethology, antipredatory behavior, cooperating devices, behavioristic explanations, other flock members, nonhuman animal behavior, vigilance behavior, classical ethology, mentalistic explanations, intentional attributions, philosophical behaviorism, predator classification, mental continuity, animal cognition, approaching food, belief criterion, intentional account, play bows, attributing mental states, mentalistic terms, social play Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Charles Darwin, Donald Griffin, Lloyd Morgan, Clever Hans, The Question of Animal Awareness New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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14
books
cite this book:
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- Animal Minds by Donald R. Griffin on 5 pages
- Comparative Approaches to Cognitive Science by Herbert L. Roitblat on 5 pages
- Cognitive Ethology: Essays in Honor of Donald R. Griffin (Comparative Cognition and Neuroscience Series) by Peter Marler on 5 pages
- Readings in Animal Cognition (Bradford Books) by Marc Bekoff on 4 pages
- The Evolution of Mind by Denise Dellarosa Cummins on 4 pages
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- The Ethics of Animal Experimentation: A Critical Analysis and Constructive Christian Proposal (American Academy of Religion Academy) by Donna Yarri in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Ernest Sosa: And His Critics (Philosophers and their Critics) by John Greco on page 134
- Ernest Sosa: And His Critics (Philosophers and their Critics) by John Greco on page 134
- Philosophy of Mind A-Z (Philosophy A-Z) by Marina Rakova in Back Matter
- The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for The Animals We Love by Jane Goodall in Back Matter
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