Summary: | Are some cognitive functions properly humans? In this article I argue that if we combine our best theories in ethology and in neuroscience, we can see that non-human animals have mental representations, exhibit intentionality and can plan an action with intermediary steps. Besides, even though neither scientists nor philosophers can say they have rigorously defined consciousness, our best theories can’t rule out its presence in non-human animals. We thus conclude that the difference between human and non-human cognition is, at best, a difference of degree rather than of nature
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