The Siren Song of Animal Consciousness
Abstract
In 1976, Donald R. Griffin asked us to consider the question of animal consciousness. Specifically, do animals have mental experiences akin to ours? This question was actually asked more than a century earlier, and the attempts to answer it prompted generations of researchers to adopt a more objective analysis of behavior and cognition. I briefly review the history of this controversy and explain how—by focusing on behavior—significant scientific progress has been accomplished without engaging in mentalistic theorizing.
Keywords: animal, consciousness, awareness, methodological behaviorism, radical behaviorism