Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology

By addebook • Jun 25th, 2008 • Category: Biology •

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Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology

Species of Mind: The Philosophy and Biology of Cognitive Ethology
By Colin Allen, Marc Bekoff

Publisher: The MIT Press
Number Of Pages: 232
Publication Date: 1999-07-16
ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0262511088
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780262511087
Binding: Paperback

The authors of this book, a philosopher and a cognitive ethologist, approach their work from the perspective that many animals have minds and rich cognitive lives. They also believe that arguments about evolutionary continuity are 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 the attribution and assessment of cognition to nonhuman animals. Cognitive ethology can help philosophy to explain mentality in naturalistic terms by providing data on the evolution of cognition.

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 antipredator vigilance and social play, where there are many points of contact with philosophical discussions of intentionality and representation. The authors make specific suggestions about how to use philosophical theories of intentionality as starting points for empirical investigation of animal minds. They also discuss cognitive ethology’s relevance to questions of ethics, as our beliefs about the mental lives of animals strongly affect our attitudes toward their moral status.

Summary: Kinds of Intelligence
Rating: 4

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.

Summary: A great book (and a retraction of previous review)
Rating: 5

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…

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