I agree about insects for instance with you completely. They are one end of the spectrum. The other end is us and we know for sure that we have a mind because we *are* these minds. That we are discussing this itself is predicated on it. All I am saying is since we have no real objecting model to understand what mind is I don't see how we can say this with certainty about higher formsof animals, like chimps, say, and that this uncertainity has moral consequences in the way we shoudl treat them.
There are for instance reports of apes, even elephants acting as though they can recognize themselves in the mirror. Link .
I don't see how you can dismiss all of this with such certainty.
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Uncertainty
Elliot,
I agree about insects for instance with you completely. They are one end of the spectrum. The other end is us and we know for sure that we have a mind because we *are* these minds. That we are discussing this itself is predicated on it. All I am saying is since we have no real objecting model to understand what mind is I don't see how we can say this with certainty about higher formsof animals, like chimps, say, and that this uncertainity has moral consequences in the way we shoudl treat them.
There are for instance reports of apes, even elephants acting as though they can recognize themselves in the mirror. Link .
I don't see how you can dismiss all of this with such certainty.