City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2019 Some Non-Human Languages of Thought Nicolas J. Porot The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3396 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] SOME NON-HUMAN LANGUAGES OF THOUGHT by NICOLAS POROT A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2019 © 2019 NICOLAS POROT All Rights Reserved ii Some Non-Human Languages of Thought by Nicolas Porot This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in [program]in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Some Non-Human Languages of Thought by Nicolas Porot Advisor: Eric Mandelbaum This dissertation asks: What might we learn if we take seriously the possibility that some non-human animals possess languages of thought (LoTs)? It looks at the ways in which this strategy can help us better understand the cognition and behavior of several non-human species. In doing so, it offers support, from disparate pieces of the phylogenetic tree, for an abductive argument for the presence of LoTs. Chapter One introduces this project.