The Status of Consciousness in Animals: A Comparative Analysis with Humanity

Extract

[...] In'In other terms, the word 'conscience' could be nothing more than the expression of a very particular consciousness - that of man - without, however, having to reject as inferior everything that does not resemble it. But the reluctance of man to attribute to others than himself the notion of consciousness could also come from a need to distance himself from animality: the animal, in fact, constitutes in the collective imagination what is precisely governed by instinct. This need for difference and this rejection may explain why man is reluctant and hesitant to attribute to animals a stage of consciousness, if not equivalent, at least intermediate. [...]

[...] Why is the animal deprived of consciousness? In most systemsIn most current political systems, animals do not have rights equivalent to those of humans. While it is generally forbidden to harm them and the conditions of animal detention by humans are subject to specific regulations, animals do not benefit from the inalienable rights conferred by birth to the human being. However, this situation is explained by the fact that human beings do not consider animals as beings endowed with the ability to conceive and formulate a judgment on the external situation, that is, endowed with consciousness. [...]

[...] The expression 'animal instinct' indeed testifies to the idea that animals are not governed by complex needs. III. Because we need a figure opposite to that of humanity, and animality plays the role of a repulsive figure More to the pointIn light of these differences, it is undeniable that humans have sometimes abused their dominant position vis-à-vis animals: whether it is in the context of work or slaughter for food or clothing purposes, the treatment of animals by humans raises questions about humanity's ability to respect life in all its forms. [...]

[...] To understand this question, it is advisable to'to examine the status of consciousness: to what extent does the figure of the animal constitute the antithesis of the human figure? To answer this question, we will first see that man refuses to grant the animal the status of a conscious being because the animal does not manifest the same signs of consciousness as ours. Secondly, the refusal to grant the animal the status of a conscious being is also explained by the fact that it acts not according to its consciousness (in the sense of reflection) but according to its instinct. [...]

[...] In the same way, memory in animals is not passed down from generation to generation, even if certain individuals accumulate experience (notably in the case of elephants where matriarchs lead the herds). Consequently, no material or immaterial construction survives the next generation in animals, unlike man, who, perceiving himself in a conscious manner, manages to preserve knowledge and transmit it in order to advance the species. Finally, animals do not manifest a notion of good or evil, unlike to the human species that has put in place complex systems - legal, moral, or religious - in order to assert conceptions of good and evil. [...]