Chapter Foundations of Human and Animal Sensory Awareness: Descartes and Willis
In arguing against the likelihood of consciousness in non-human animals, Descartes advances a slippery slope argument that if thought were attributed to any one animal, it would have to be attributed to all, which is absurd. This paper examines the foundations of Thomas Willis’ comparative neuroanat...
Wedi'i Gadw mewn:
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| Fformat: | Online |
| Iaith: | Saesneg |
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Firenze University Press
2023
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| Pynciau: | |
| Mynediad Ar-lein: | ONIX_20231127_9791221501698_5 |
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Dim Tagiau, Byddwch y cyntaf i dagio'r cofnod hwn!
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| _version_ | 1869530544638787584 |
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| author | Brown, Deborah Key, Brian |
| author_browse | Brown, Deborah Key, Brian |
| author_facet | Brown, Deborah Key, Brian |
| author_sort | Brown, Deborah |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | In arguing against the likelihood of consciousness in non-human animals, Descartes advances a slippery slope argument that if thought were attributed to any one animal, it would have to be attributed to all, which is absurd. This paper examines the foundations of Thomas Willis’ comparative neuroanatomy against the background of Descartes’ slippery slope argument against animal consciousness. Inspired by Gassendi’s ideas about the corporeal soul, Thomas Willis distinguished between neural circuitry responsible for reflex behaviour and that responsible for cognitively or consciously mediated behaviour. This afforded Willis a non-arbitrary basis for distinguishing between animals with thought and consciousness and those without, a methodology which retains currency for neuroscience today. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-128357 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Firenze University Press |
| publisherStr | Firenze University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1283572025-01-19T04:00:26Z Chapter Foundations of Human and Animal Sensory Awareness: Descartes and Willis Brown, Deborah Key, Brian René Descartes Thomas Willis consciousness animal soul structure-determines-function principle immortality In arguing against the likelihood of consciousness in non-human animals, Descartes advances a slippery slope argument that if thought were attributed to any one animal, it would have to be attributed to all, which is absurd. This paper examines the foundations of Thomas Willis’ comparative neuroanatomy against the background of Descartes’ slippery slope argument against animal consciousness. Inspired by Gassendi’s ideas about the corporeal soul, Thomas Willis distinguished between neural circuitry responsible for reflex behaviour and that responsible for cognitively or consciously mediated behaviour. This afforded Willis a non-arbitrary basis for distinguishing between animals with thought and consciousness and those without, a methodology which retains currency for neuroscience today. 2023-11-29T04:39:13Z 2023-11-29T04:39:13Z 2023-11-27T17:12:27Z 2023 chapter ONIX_20231127_9791221501698_5 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/85595 9791221501698 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/128357 eng Knowledge and its Histories open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/85595/1/38460.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/85595/1/38460.pdf Firenze University Press 10.36253/979-12-215-0169-8.06 10.36253/979-12-215-0169-8.06 2ec4474d-93b1-4cfa-b313-9c6019b51b1a 9791221501698 19 Florence open access |
| spellingShingle | René Descartes Thomas Willis consciousness animal soul structure-determines-function principle immortality Brown, Deborah Key, Brian Chapter Foundations of Human and Animal Sensory Awareness: Descartes and Willis |
| title | Chapter Foundations of Human and Animal Sensory Awareness: Descartes and Willis |
| title_full | Chapter Foundations of Human and Animal Sensory Awareness: Descartes and Willis |
| title_fullStr | Chapter Foundations of Human and Animal Sensory Awareness: Descartes and Willis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chapter Foundations of Human and Animal Sensory Awareness: Descartes and Willis |
| title_short | Chapter Foundations of Human and Animal Sensory Awareness: Descartes and Willis |
| title_sort | chapter foundations of human and animal sensory awareness descartes and willis |
| topic | René Descartes Thomas Willis consciousness animal soul structure-determines-function principle immortality |
| topic_facet | René Descartes Thomas Willis consciousness animal soul structure-determines-function principle immortality |
| url | ONIX_20231127_9791221501698_5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT browndeborah chapterfoundationsofhumanandanimalsensoryawarenessdescartesandwillis AT keybrian chapterfoundationsofhumanandanimalsensoryawarenessdescartesandwillis |