Humans Are Animals, Too
Humans Are Animals, Too For a significant duration, there has been an enduring debate in the realm of animal behavior and cognition. Two main factions have emerged: the exclusivists, who emphasize the distinctions between humans and other animals, and the inclusivists, who focus on the similarities between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. This debate has ancient origins, with philosophers such as Aristotle and Descartes contending that humans possess unique higher-order cognitive abilities like rational thought and language, while thinkers like Voltaire, Charles Darwin, and David Hume argued that animals exhibit thought and reason, just like humans. Bridging the gap between evolutionary biology and cognitive science, W. Tecumseh Fitch, a cognitive biologist from the University of Vienna, has stressed the importance of studying our more distant animal relatives to gain insights into human cognition. He conveyed this perspective during his keynote speech at the...