Other animals recognise themselves and others as individuals. They clearly remember their own place and the places of others in a social hierarchy. Animals use language to express abstract concepts. They remember which members of their community are their friends. Animals pass cultural information from one generation to another. They also mourn their dead.
For many sceptics, the evidence that finally persuades them is the mirror test. A mirror is placed in front of an animal to see whether it understands that it is looking at its own reflection. Different animals, such as dolphins, chimpanzees and some birds, have passed the test. They make special efforts to manoeuvre in front of the mirror and examine parts of their bodies they cannot normally see.
Passing the mirror test may indicate self-awareness, but failing it does not show that self-awareness is absent. I have often walked past a wall-sized mirror without recognising my own reflection for the first minute or two. At first, it seemed an interesting coincidence that someone else was wearing the same clothes as me. That does not mean I lacked self-awareness during those minutes. Animals may not have the insight needed to pass the test and still be fully self-aware.
Some people are uncomfortable accepting self-awareness in other animals. This should not be surprising given the historical context. During the era of Descartes—the philosopher known for claiming that animals do not feel pain—he and many contemporaries believed that Black Africans lacked self-awareness, or even the ability to feel pain or suffering.
Descartes argued that only beings with souls could be conscious or feel pain. He later argued that the basic test for having a soul was the ability to think rationally. He also said that testing rational thought depended on knowing a written language. A common view at the time was that Black people lacked the mental ability to learn to read or write, although some Africans had written in Arabic centuries earlier, a fact then unknown to them. Descartes and many contemporaries therefore concluded that Black people had no souls, were not descendants of Adam and Eve, and could not feel pain, love or a desire to live.
It is difficult for us today to imagine that intelligent people in the past could hold such views, although they were once common among the highly educated. Future generations may react similarly when they learn how our society judges the mental abilities of animals.
Continue with these questions:
- What evidence is there that other animals can make moral decisions?
- Are only humans able to use language and understand abstract concepts?
- Are only humans able to pass cultural information from one generation to the next?
- Do only humans understand the concept of death?
- Are only humans able to enter social agreements?
- Are only humans able to use tools?
- How do we know that other animals can feel pain?
- Where does consciousness begin in the animal kingdom?
More answers: Vegan Ethics FAQ.