Philosophers and scientists alike have long been interested in the methodological challenges to our understanding of the presence and nature of so-called “complex” cognitive traits in non-human animals. Understanding such cognition in non-human animals is central to understanding the evolutionary origins of various traits in our own species including consciousness, self, agency and language. To-date, the vast majority of the philosophical work in this area has been focused on the methodologies used to test for abstract reasoning, mental time-travel, mindreading and language in chimpanzees and other primates. Over the past fifteen years, however, various behaviours indicative of complex cognition (particularly, tool manufacture and use, and causal problem solving) have been demonstrated in lineages beyond our own, most particularly in birds. New Caledonian Crows, for example, manufacture and builds tools in the wild, and have also been shown to be impressive causal problem solvers in the lab. These new findings from the sciences have underscored the role that phylogenetic proximity plays in our assumptions and reasoning about primate cognition, and highlighted the depth of the methodological challenges facing our study of the non-human animal mind beyond our closest relatives. While discussion of the challenges to our understanding the non-human animal mind abound, suggestions of how to overcome them (particularly for non-primate species) are few and far between. Furthermore, recent work on the constitutive and causal role of the environment and culture in cognition presents a new way of thinking about evidence from non-human animal experiments that has been little explored.
This workshop will bring together some of the leading scientists and philosophers working in comparative psychology in an attempt to make some headway on the many methodological issues in the study of “complex” animal cognition.
This workshop will bring together some of the leading scientists and philosophers working in comparative psychology in an attempt to make some headway on the many methodological issues in the study of “complex” animal cognition.