180089 SE Thinking without Words? (2013S)

Thinking about animals means also thinking about humans, and vice versa. But can animals think? And if they do, how? Western philosophy in the sign of Minerva's Owl has always been in the area of conflict between differentialism and assimilationism. Either focusing on anthropological differences between humans and animals or highlighting the similarities of all creatures has remained highly relevant: from Chrysippus's dog to Derrida's cat.
Practical philosophical questions concerning animals are well-established in applied ethics. The increasing interest in theoretical animal philosophy has to deal with central questions of epistemology, analytical philosophy of language and cognitive science. This seminar will focus on important aspects of the recent debate on non-linguistic thought and self-/ awareness.
Markus Wild's introduction to animal philosophy will provide a helpful overview; with references to the beginning of the modern debate, to Montaigne and Descartes, those antipodes of assimilationist and differentialist thinking. Selected passages from various articles will keep our human animal minds busy: from Donald Davidson's classical analytical-philosophical position, thought demands linguistic abilities, to weird Neo-Cartesians like Peter Carruthers, who casts doubt on animal awareness in general, to David DeGrazia, who is an outspoken proponent of self-awareness in animals.
If it can be shown how philosophical conceptions are of interdisciplinary importance as much as they are influenced by empirical insights (e.g. from cognitive biology), we should not be surprised to learn something new about the peculiar zoon logon echon while philosophizing about non-linguistic creatures.