Do Animals Have Thought?

1673 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Do animals have emotions like humans essay

Staring my dog in the eyes after she had grabbed a muffin on my kitchen floor, I see her head cautiously tip to the ground, and her jaw release the little treat. I smile and lower my scolding finger, only for her to mischievously grab the muffin off the ground once more, and bolt into the backyard to finish it off before I have a chance to stop her. That was a clever move of deception on her part, and it is everyday interactions like this one that lead me to the bigger question I want to address. Do animals have thought? And if so, how similar is it to the human definition of thought, and mindfulness? In this paper I will argue a point similar to one discussed by philosopher Marc Hauser, that animals cognitive abilities form a continuum from the least complex to the most complex, and that there is no great discontinuity between human and non- human animal cognition (Hauser). Hauser argues that no non- human animals have communication closely analogous to human language, but human- like language is not necessary for thought. I will provide reasoning on two major supposed components of advanced cognition, language and empathy, in order to prove that there exists a spectrum of animal cognition, and within it a continuum of both language and empathetic qualities that non- human animals embody.
I will start by stating Marc Hauser’s argument on animal cognition, from Wild Minds. Hauser argues that animal’s cognitive abilities form a continuum from the least complex to the most complex, where human cognitive abilities can be found on the most complex end of the continuum. There is no great discontinuity between human and animal cognition, although a hierarchy of communication does exist, ranging from involuntary, voluntary, referential,...

... middle of paper ...

...’s young, but she still chooses to play, bond and care for the chimp.

Works Cited

"Bonobo Facts | Pygmy Chimpanzee | Chimps | Endangered Animals." Animal Fact Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014.

Clay Z, de Waal FBM (2013) Bonobos Respond to Distress in Others: Consolation across the Age Spectrum. PLoS ONE 8(1): e55206. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055206

Dennett, Daniel Clement. Kinds of Minds: Toward an Understanding of Consciousness. New York, NY: Basic, 1996. Print.

Gallup, G. G. “Can Animals Empathize? Yes.” Scientific American 9.4 (1998): 67- 76. Web

Goodall, Jane. Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Print.

Hauser, Marc D. Wild Minds: What Animals Really Think. New York: Henry Holt, 2000. Print.

Povinelli, Daniel J. “Can Animals Empathize? Maybe Not.” Scientific American (1998): 67-76. Web.

Show More
Related

  • Next Of Kin Chapter Summaries

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    Next of Kin tells the story of a man’s life and how it was forever changed once he was asked to become an assistant for a research project with chimpanzees. The story spans over several decades of work. It is very emotional and telling. The book allows the reader to have an intimate understanding of how the research was conducted, as well as how the world had viewed and treated chimpanzees at the time which Fouts was involved in the Washoe project.

    Read More

  • Dire issues with Chimpanzees

    703 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although the practice of collecting animals have been present since 2500 B.C (Dunlap and Kellert), efforts to keep animals in a safe and natural habitat have been poorly consummated. Psychological manipulation has consequentially drawn chimpanzees to mental illness, as in the article “How Abnormal Is the Behavior of Captive, Zoo-Living Chimpanzees?” Lucy P. Birkett and Nicholas E. Newton-Fisher wrote, “Many chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) kept in laboratory housing settings show a variety of serious behavioral abnormalities, such as, repetitive rocking, drinking of urine, or self-mutilation.” Social and maternal separation for the benifit of reasearch are linked to psychological traumatic as well (Dunlap and Kellert). Although through history the service of zoos have been for entertainment, it is a trivial reason for holding chimpanzees in confidment. Subsequently, it is inhumane to take primates from the wild and place them in a zoo, commercial, or laboratory setting, which strips them of their ability to act naturally.

    Read More

  • The Texas Horned Lizard

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shuker, K. 2001. The Hidden Powers of Animals: Uncovering the Secrets of Nature. London, England: Marshall Editions Ltd. p. 128.

    Read More

  • Gorilla, My Love

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bambara, Toni Cade. “Gorilla, My Love.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 294-298. Print.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Humans and Chimpanzees

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chimpanzees portray their emotions through a number of facial expressions and mannerisms. Just like humans, they undergo mood swings, jealous rages, and laughter. For instance, Goodall observed during her research that a male gorilla “would threaten [me] with an upward and backward movement jerk of his head…” Some of their emotions are easy to read, while at other times we have to look at multiple places on their faces to understand their feelings. A chimpanzee also uses its facial expressions and sounds to communicate with each other, such as hoots and yells.

    Read More

  • Essay On Human Dignity By Francis Fukuyama

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    Animals can appear to plan for the future, for instance gathering food and storing it for future use, but then again this seems to be nothing more than instinctive behavior. Actually rationally thinking about the future involves considering prospective consequences. Animals may be aware when it is feeding time, but they will not rationalize about what they want to eat; it’s less of a choice and more of a need on a basis for survival. Animals can have distinctive capacities for memory storage. The phrase "an elephant never forgets" derives from elephants’ notable ability to recall the locations of places, other animals, and things, such as water holes, long after visiting them only one time in their life. What separates humans from animals are their abilities to reflect on the events from they’re past and evaluate them, or wish they had done something differently. How animals do learn is from repeated experience and instinct. One would expect that when a deer has a close encounter with a car, it would not cross roads or learn to cross when there are no cars, but that is not how animals think. A deer will still cross the road; it is purely luck that prevents the deer from getting hit by a car. Fukuyama references the concept of consciousness as a key element of demanding respect and dignity. While explaining the concepts of feelings of pain

    Read More

  • Primate Intelligence: Apes

    1577 Words  | 4 Pages

    Reaching into Thought: The Minds of the Great Apes, ed. A. E. Russon, K. A. Bard & S. T. Parker, pp. 257–77. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Read More

  • Observing Chimpanzees at The Kimberly-Clark Chimpanzee Forest Exhibit at Dallas Zoo

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    Inside the chimp habitat, I noticed a sign which read: Look here for a “zoo” born! When I saw it, I recalled that earlier during the day, a senior docent named Rhonda who worked with the gorillas had told me that there was recently a newborn chimp. She said to look very closely to find the baby because the mother was extremely protective of it. She had also mentioned that the newborn’s furless skin would be very pink. At first, I looked very keenly for the small new chimp who had just been born this year, but I couldn’t find it. I finally spotted the baby after I moved to a different position to view the chimps from the open air viewing area. The infant was just as Rhonda had described it: nestled in its mother’s arms as she shielde...

    Read More

  • Theory of Mind

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    Describe what evolutionary psychologists mean when they employ the term ‘theory of mind’. Use examples and research studies from Book 1, Chapter 2 to show why this theory is important in evolutionary psychology.

    Read More

  • Elephants Helping Trunk

    422 Words  | 1 Pages

    Did you know that elephants think of us as we think of puppies? They think we’re cute. The author's’ purpose for writing about the cognitive and strategic thought abilities of elephants. The main reason for the authors’ to write these articles is to inform us about elephants’ high cognition.

    Read More

  • Robert Sapolsky: The Uniqueness Of Humans And Other Primates

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this example, two primates were placed behind either a transparent or an opaque screen. Between these screens was a banana and I learned how a primate reacted when approached with the option if he should go for the banana when put against a dominant primate. I was impressed that they didn’t engage in a brawl over the banana, but instead used thought in regard to hierarchy. This to me, without doubt, proves once more that primates are able to produce complex behaviors that relate to humans. Thinking like this insinuates that primates as well as creatures other than humans have the ability of using

    Read More

  • John Tooby's Model of Evolutionary Psychology

    1337 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tooby, J., Cosmides, L., & Barkow, J. (1992). The Adapted Mind: evolutionary psychology and the

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Animal Farm and The Pearl

    569 Words  | 2 Pages

    tells how an entire farm of animals can talk and think like human beings. It also tells you how

    Read More

  • Animal Intelligence

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is nearly impossible to say whether non-human animals are intelligent. Most studies, in this field of psychology, were carried out on primates, and it is thought that these animals are naturally superior. It seems most behaviour in the research discussed in this essay can be explained through association learning, therefore not actually a result of intelligence. It is difficult to falsify whether animals are intelligent or not because, although they are able to solve problems they only show some aspects to suggest ToM.

    Read More

  • Human-Animal Relationships

    410 Words  | 1 Pages

    Animals can be perceived in many different ways. While some humans consider animals to be mindless machines programmed with instinct, others view them as spiritual creatures capable of coherent thought and emotions. I feel that animals are somewhere in the middle. Although they rely heavily on instinct, the ability to feel emotions shows that their mental capacity is not far from that of a human.

    Read More

More about Do Animals Have Thought?

Open Document