SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Kaygı. Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 24 Sayı: 1

Can Animals Think?

Hayvanlar Düşünebilir Mi?

Nazım Gökel(KILIS 7 ARALIK UNIVERSITY)0000-0003-4356-8563
Simay İkier(MARMARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0003-3810-0958
Pages
43–77
Publication Date
2025-03-28
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Keywords: Consciousness, Thought, Representation, Episodic Memory, Dennett.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:Abstract: While not as much as humans, many believe that animals have at least a limited capacity for thought.
📊
Key Findings & Data:Dennett, having developed his ideas opposing animal thinking, confesses that he aimed to disturb some of the deeply rooted views supporting animal thinking (Dennett 1996).
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Keywords: Consciousness, Thought, Representation, Episodic Memory, Dennett.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Bilinç · Düşünce · Temsil

Abstract

Can Animals Think? Abstract: While not as much as humans, many believe that animals have at least a limited capacity for thought. According to Dennett, it is very problematic to assert that animals are capable of thinking. Intelligent animal behaviors can be described as instances of unthinking intentionality. Sometimes people act without thinking, but unlike animals, humans go through a prolonged and conscious learning process before those automatic behaviors become established. Dennett, having developed his ideas opposing animal thinking, confesses that he aimed to disturb some of the deeply rooted views supporting animal thinking (Dennett 1996). Still, Dennett's chosen examples and developed arguments present unexpected issues when trying to establish a reasonable doubt. The examples primarily focus on procedural memory processes, yet, to cast doubt about whether animals think, the focus should be on episodic memory processes, not procedural memory processes. Furthermore, not all procedural memory processes, contrary to Dennett's view, require conscious process of learning beforehand in humans. In summary, the skepticism regarding animal thinking may still be warranted, not because of Dennett’s reasons and examples Dennett favors most, but for other reasons. Keywords: Consciousness, Thought, Representation, Episodic Memory, Dennett.

Özet

Hayvanlar Düşünebilir Mi? Öz: Birçok kişi, hayvanların insanlar kadar olmasa da en azından sınırlı bir düşünce yetisine sahip olduğuna inanır. Dennett’e göre ise, hayvanların düşünebildiğini söylemek oldukça zordur. Zeki hayvan davranışları düşünmeyen yönelimsellik örnekleri olarak betimlenebilir. Bazen insanlar da düşünmeden eyleme geçer; yalnız, hayvanlardan farklı olarak insanlar bu otomatikleşmiş davranışların yerleşmesinden önce uzun ve bilinçli bir öğrenme sürecinden geçerler. Dennett, hayvan düşüncesi karşıtı fikirlerini geliştirdikten sonra hayvan düşüncesini destekleyen köklü fikirleri rahatsız etmek için bu fikirleri geliştirdiğini itiraf eder (Dennett 1996). Yalnız, Dennett’in seçtiği örnekler ve geliştirdiği argümanlar makul bir şüpheyi yerleştirmeye çalışırken beklenmedik sorunlar çıkarır. Örnekler ağırlıklı olarak işlemsel bellek süreçleriyle ilgili örneklerdir; halbuki hayvanların düşünüp düşünemediği ile ilgili bir şüphe yaratmak için bakılması gereken süreçler işlemsel bellek süreçleri değil, olaysal bellek süreçleridir. Ayrıca, Dennett’in iddiasının aksine, insanlarda da her işlemsel bellek sürecinin öncesinde bilinçli bir öğrenme süreci gerekmemektedir. Özetle, hayvanların düşünmesi konusundaki şüphecilik hala haklı olabilir, ancak bu Dennett’in öne sürdüğü nedenler ve en çok tercih ettiği örnekler yüzünden değil, başka nedenlerden dolayıdır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Bilinç, Düşünce, Temsil, Olaysal Bellek, Dennett.

🔖

Cite This Article

Gökel, N., İkier, S. (2025). Can Animals Think?. Kaygı. Uludağ Üniversitesi Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Felsefe Dergisi, Cilt: 24 Sayı: 1, 43–77. https://doi.org/10.20981/kaygi.1525718

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (32)

  1. Birch, J., Schnell, A. & Clayton, N. (2020). Dimensions of Animal Consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 24 (10), 789-801.
  2. Brentano, F. (1973/1995). Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (tr., A. C. Rancurello, D. B. Terrell & L. McAlister). London: Routledge
  3. Clark, A. & Chalmers, D. (1998). The Extended Mind. Analysis 58/1, 7-19.
  4. Clayton, N. S., & Dickinson, A. (1998). "Episodic-like memory during cache recovery by scrub jays." Nature 395, 272-274. https://doi.org/10.1038/26216
  5. Corballis, M. C. (2013). "Mental time travel: a case for evolutionary continuity." Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17 (1), 5-6.
  6. Crystal, J. D. (2010). "Episodic-like memory in animals." Behavioural Brain Research, 215 (2), 235-243.
  7. Dennett, D. C. (1978a/2017). Intentional Systems. Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (pp. 3-23). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  8. Dennett, D. C. (1978b/2017). Reply to Arbib and Gunderson. Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (pp. 25-41). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  9. Dennett, D. C. (1978c/2017). A Cure for the Common Code? Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (pp. 99-118). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  10. Dennett, D. C. (1978d/2017). Conditions of Personhood. Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology (pp. 287-306). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  11. Dennett, D. C. (1987a). Intentional Systems in Cognitive Ethology: The ‘Panglossian Paradigm’ Defended. The Intentional Stance (pp. 237-268). Cambridge, London: MIT Press.
  12. Dennett, D. C. (1987b). Evolution, Error and Intentionality. The Intentional Stance (pp. 287-321). Cambridge, London: MIT Press.
  13. Dennett, D. C. (1992). Consciousness Explained. New York, Boston, London: Back Bay Books,
  14. Dennett, D. C. (1996). Kinds of Minds: Toward an Understanding of Consciousness. New York, NY: BasicBooks.
  15. Dennett, D. C. (2014). The Evolution of Reasons. Contemporary Philosophical Naturalism and Its Implications (ed. B. Bashour & H. Muller, pp. 47-62). New York, London: Routledge
  16. Fodor, J. A. (1975). The Language of Thought. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
  17. Fodor, J. A. (1989). Why There Still Has To Be a Language of Thought. Computers, Brains and Minds: Essays in Cognitive Science (ed., P. Slezak & W. R. Albury, pp. 23-46). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  18. Heil, J. (2013). Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction, Third Edition. New York, USA: Routledge.
  19. Humphrey, N. (1978). Nature's Psychologists. New Scientist 29, 900-904.
  20. Karlsson, M. P., and Loren M. F. (2009). Awake replay of remote experiences in the hippocampus. Nature neuroscience 12 (7), 913-918.
  21. Koch, M. (2016). Comparative aspects of learning and memory. The Wiley Handbook of Evolutionary Neuroscience (ed., S. V. Shepherd, pp., 410-421).
  22. Nagel, T. (1979/2013). What is it like to be a bat? Mortal Questions (pp. 165-180). Cambridge, [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  23. Pinel, J. P. J., & S. J. Barnes. (2019). Biopsychology. Pearson Higher Education.
  24. Putnam, H. (1975). The Meaning of ‘Meaning. Mind, Language and Reality, Philosophical Papers Volume 2 (pp. 215-271). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  25. Roediger, H. L. (1990). Implicit memory: Retention without remembering. American Psychologist 45 (9), 1043-1056.
  26. Ryle, G. (1949a/2009). The Concept of Mind. New York, USA: Routledge.
  27. Ryle, G. (1949b). Meaning and Necessity. Philosophy 24, 69-76.
  28. Schacter, D. L., & Addis, D. R. (2007). The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory: remembering the past and imagining the future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 362 (1481), 773-786.
  29. Schacter, D., & Tulving, E. (1994). What are the memory systems of 1994? Memory Systems 1994 (ed. D. L. Schacter, & E. Tulving, pp. 1-38). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  30. Searle, J. (1980). Minds, Brains and Programs. Behavioral and Brains Sciences 3, 417-458.
  31. Squire, L. R. (2009). The legacy of patient HM for neuroscience. Neuron 61 (1), 6-9.
  32. Suddendorf, T. (2013). Mental time travel: continuities and discontinuities. Trends in cognitive sciences, 17 (4), 151-152.