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Conceptions of Play and the Evolution of Animal Minds

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Conceptions of Play and the Evolution of Animal Minds Contents Hubert Hendrichs 98 Accessing Animal Minds: Epistemological and Empirical Problems Gordon G. Brittan, Jr. 105 The Mental Life of Other Animals Gordon M. Burghardt 114 Conceptions of Play and the Evolution of Animal Minds Colin Allen 123 Animal Concepts Revisited Marc Bekoff 128 Social Cognition: Exchanging and Sharing Information on the Run Gerhard Roth 137 The Neurobiological Basis of Consciousness in Man and Animals Franz Seitelberger 149 Neurobiological Comments on Empirical Consciousness Gunther S. Stent 156 Are Animals Persons? Holk Cruse 162 Feeling Our Body—The Basis of Cognition? Hans-Johann Glock 174 Animal Minds: Conceptual Problems Rolf Lachmann 189 Animal Perception as Value Perception Hans Lenk 198 Humans as Metasymbolic and Superinterpreting Beings Theodore R. Schatzki 204 Humanism on the Ropes? Evolution and Cognition: ISSN: 0938-2623 Published by: Konrad Lorenz Institut für Evolutions- und Kognitionsforschung, Adolf-Lorenz-Gasse 2, A-3422 Altenberg/Donau. Impressum Tel.: 0043-2242-32390; Fax: 0043-2242-323904; e-mail: [email protected]; World Wide Web: http://www.univie.ac.at/evolution/kli/ Editors: Rupert Riedl, Manfred Wimmer Layout: Alexander Riegler Aim and Scope: “Evolution and Cognition” is an interdisciplinary forum devoted to all aspects of research on cognition in animals and humans. The major emphasis of the journal is on evolutionary approaches to cognition, reflecting the fact that the cognitive capacities of organisms result from biological evolution. Empirical and theoretical work from both fields, evolutionary and cognitive science, is accept- ed, but particular attention is paid to interdisciplinary perspectives on the mutual relationship between evolutionary and cognitive processes. Submissions dealing with the significance of cognitive research for the theories of biological and sociocultural evolution are also welcome. “Evolution and Cognition” publishes both original papers and review arti- cles. Period of Publication: Semi-annual Price: Annuals subscription rate (2 issues): ATS 500; DEM 70, US$ 50; SFr 60; GBP 25. Annual subscriptions are assumed to be continued automatically unless subscription orders are cancelled by written information. Single issue price: ATS 300; DEM 43; US$ 30; SFr 36; GBP 15 Publishing House: WUV-Universitäts- verlag/Vienna University Press, Berggasse 5, A-1090 Wien, Tel.: 0043/1/3105356-0, Fax: 0043/1/3197050 Bank: Erste österreichische Spar-Casse, Acct.No. 073-08191 (Bank Code 20111) Advertising: Vienna University Press, Berggasse 5, A-1090 Wien. Supported by Cultural Office of the City of Vienna, Austrian Federal Ministry of Science/ Transportation and the Section Culture and Science of the Lower Austrian State Government. Hubert Hendrichs Accessing Animal Minds: Epistemological and Empirical Problems OME 20 YEARS AGO, AT Abstract 1984; SEARLE 1983, 1992; S the 15th Interna- FODOR 1987; DENNETT tional Ethological Con- The paper outlines the origin and aims of an interdis- 1987; DRETSKE 1988; DREY- ference held in Bielefeld, ciplinary project on the problem of animal minds, in- FUS/DREYFUS 1988; PEN- a senior ethologist, Don volving the cooperation of ethology, neurobiology, ROSE 1989; RADNER/RAD- GRIFFIN, had proposed a robotics, and philosophy. The contributions, al- NER 1989; KIM 1996), round table on cognitive though heterogeneous and reflecting different posi- providing valuable con- ethology, on awareness tions in these disciplines, nevertheless indicate that ceptual and epistemologi- and intentionality in ani- there is a common ground to be considered in future cal tools. But in spite of mals.1 The faculty of biol- theoretical and empirical studies. The behavior of or- this great interdisciplinary ogy of the recently ganisms is oriented and organized by a compound of enthusiasm and effort3 founded university had highly integrated components of different dimension some appearingly simple only started work one and rationality. In human beings some of these com- (ontological) questions year before with a very ponents are named cognition, emotion, and con- asked by Don GRIFFIN in small number of scien- sciousness. Their evolutionary development can only the handout for his round tists. I was given the task be understood as a multilevel phenomenon, and by table 20 years ago have re- to organize the work- considering the heterogeneities in dimension and ra- mained unanswered: shops and round tables at tionality, in structure and processing, and their in- B Do animals know what the conference. I remem- creasing integration. they are doing? ber that this proposal B Can communicative caused irritation among Key words behavior be used to ask the organizers. No sober questions? biologist was—at that Animal minds, evolution of human mentality, cogni- B What hypotheses can time—expected to com- tion, emotion, consciousness. be formulated concern- mit himself to such ing animal awareness and unscientific topics, if he intention? wanted to keep his scientific reputation. That atti- B What observations or experiments could show, tude has changed considerably—not completely— whether animals have internal images? in the meantime. At an annual meeting of the Deut- This indicates that something is seriously wrong sche Zoologische Gesellschaft in Oldenburg a round or missing with the categories and conceptualiza- table was held, entitled “Toward a biological con- tions used in the various disciplines concerned with cept of consciousness” (cf. PFANNENSTIEL 1996). systems—living and nonliving, human and nonhu- Without doubt interest has grown and great man—which generate functionally adequate ac- progress has been achieved in the last years, espe- tions in situationally changing contexts, responding cially in neurobiology, investigating and document- to various forms of stimulation. To the unanswered ing correlations between brain activity and behav- questions one may add: ioral states2, and in primatology, investigating B To what extent is observable behavior influenced communication and cheating in apes and other pri- by processes involving feelings, cognitive represen- mates (cf. PREMACK/PREMACK 1983; WHITTEN/BYRNE tations, beliefs, and 1988; CHENEY/SEYFARTH 1990). Important contribu- B what types of intentional states are required, tions could in addition be recruited from cognitive B do they have to be individually acquired or pro- psychology (cf. BIRBAUMER 1996; MARKOWITSCH 1992; duced? BAARS 1997) and philosophy (AGAZZI 1981; PYLYSHYN B What are the established empirical findings? Evolution and Cognition ❘ 98 ❘ 1999, Vol. 5, No. 2 Accessing Animal Minds: Epistemological and Empirical Problems B How can these processes be conceptualized, and impeded by a number of unsolved problems which B what are the criteria that allow us to ascribe repre- have to be coped with first. They include conceptual sentations and intentional states, and methodological, that is, epistemic and empiri- B what are the necessary differentiations? cal, problems as addressed in the contributed papers. These questions concern a wide range of different Although this faraway goal will not yet be a central types of scientific approaches, from the evaluation of issue of this volume, it is nevertheless an important empirical data to the epistemological analysis of ar- background, providing an orienting horizon for its gumentations, but they center around an area in be- main task: discussing, evaluating, and connecting tween—and outside—the established scientific and the different concepts proposed by different disci- philosophical disciplines: an area in which concep- plines and possibly reflecting different positions tualizations have to be developed that can be con- within one discipline. Thus, the aim here is not yet nected with specific concepts of several disciplines to find answers to unanswered questions or solu- and can thereby form a bridge between these disci- tions for unsolved problems but, much more mod- plines. Such bridges are required and have to be de- estly, a contribution to the following three veloped to find answers to the above questions. interrelated tasks: These conceptualizations have to be built with scien- B to gain a better transparency of the basic concepts tifically and philosophically acceptable tools and underlying the various conceptualizations of the dif- building blocks (although outside the discipline spe- ferent disciplines, and cific tools; this is a problem: what may be acceptable B to look for possibilities of adequately associating to one discipline may not to an other, and vice versa). these different conceptualizations, finding and de- They are concerned with the performance of struc- scribing possible links or bridges, and tures and processes which are functional and goal- B thereby mapping out a field in which new ques- directed, while their steering and their intentionality tions may be asked and possibly answered. and cognitive orientation may be very different. Although relatively modest, this still is a daring These kinds of differences pose unsolved problems, enterprise. for example the difference between artificial and liv- Thus, the distant goal is to establish a solid base for ing intelligence, between machines and living sys- a careful ontological characterization of living sys- tems, between the rights of animals and humans, and tems. This will be approached by describing and eval- between animals at different levels of complexity. uating epistemological and empirical requirements The ultimate aim of such efforts will be something and
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