PHIL491/591 FA26
PHIL491/591: Special Topics in the History of Philosophy
Animal Consciousness in the Early Modern Period
Dr. Lawrence Nolan
Mondays & Wednesdays · 2:00pm–3:15pm · LA5–149
Pet owners are fond of ascribing emotions, feelings, thoughts, desires, and intentions to their animals (e.g., ‘my dog loves me’). Is this a case of anthropomorphism or do our pets really have the same repertoire of mental and affective capacities as we have? Are they even conscious? One of the most fascinating, albeit understudied, debates of the early modern period concerns just these questions. In the late Renaissance, Montaigne and others argued that animals are not only conscious but surpass us in many of their cognitive abilities, including their powers of reasoning. However, Descartes notoriously argued that animals are mere machines and thus completely devoid of thought, reason, and even bare feelings of pain and pleasure. This is known as the ‘beast-machine’ doctrine, and it was as shocking then as it is now. Nevertheless, Descartes had some fascinating and powerful arguments for the doctrine, most notably the language argument, where it is asserted that animals do not use language in the same creative and context-sensitive way that we do. Many of Descartes’ followers endorsed the beast-machine doctrine and developed new arguments of their own. Other major figures in the period such as Locke, Leibniz, and Hume countered the Cartesians, defending the commonsense view that there is great continuity between human and animal mentality. They saw the distinction between human and animal consciousness as merely a difference in degree rather than kind.
In this course, we will analyze and evaluate philosophical arguments for and against animal consciousness from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. We will also attempt to understand the positions and motivations of the participants in this debate within the context of their larger philosophical systems and the scientific advances of the day.
Students in the course will be required to attend class regularly, contribute frequently to discussion, write two papers, and complete one exam. Graduate students will have the option of writing a term paper in lieu of the other written assignments.