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Animal consciousness and new challenges for science

Animal consciousness and new challenges for science

The emergence of animal consciousness is a challenge for science. The gradual development of this skill is revealed, its secrets and moral implications are revealed. Will we be able to understand the experiences of animals? Evolution helps to understand animal consciousness and its ethical implications.

Many scientists and philosophers believe that it will never be possible to understand what goes on in the minds of animals. Over the past three years, this philosophical question has been deepened, and is now presented in the book Philosophy of Animal Consciousness, available for pre-order.

The multifaceted nature of animal consciousness

When thinking about consciousness as the exclusive property of a person, he makes a mistake. Consciousness is a multifaceted phenomenon that occurs in different forms of animal life. The answer lies in unpacking its dimensions and understanding the gradual evolution.

Photo: Scientific Image Library / Canva Pro

The bottom-up approach is to start with primitive forms of awareness and then work your way up gradually. Through reverse engineering, it is understood how animal consciousness evolved, revealing its components and origins.

In the past decade, a new interdisciplinary field has emerged: the study of animal consciousness, which is no longer constrained by behaviorism, and which allows for incremental advances in understanding this complex phenomenon.

Donald Griffin, discoverer of echolocation in bats, claims that the crown of Darwin’s revolution will be the study of animal minds. In the book, author Walter Welt attempts to take a step-by-step understanding of animal consciousness and its role in the lives of evolving organisms.

Understanding the subjective experience of animals is essential in animal welfare ethics and legislation. From an evolutionary perspective, it is possible to understand what makes animal life good or bad and make predictions that guide experiments and advances in this field.

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The book “Philosophy of Animal Consciousness” is written in an accessible way not only for philosophers and scientists, but also for the general public. Anyone interested in the science behind experimenting with a crow, dog, or dolphin, for example, will find answers and reflections on ethics and animal welfare.