Animal Consciousness

Consciousness is a sense of one's personal or collective identity, including the attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities held by or considered characteristic of an individual or group. Consciousness is what most believe makes life worth living. I believe that animals, like humans, are conscious of their daily lives. They are able to express emotions like we do. They are able to be trained to perform skilled tasks on command. As babies they are raised by their mothers and at times seek comfort amongst others of its kind, which is also behavior very similar to that of a human. Plus, their conscious minds grow weary over time and require certain periods of sleep to recover. With all these human-like characteristics some animals, like dogs and cats possess, it is reasonable to believe that animals do in fact contain some type of consciousness.

Most animals, like dogs and cats, display emotions that reflect their innermost feelings of joy or grief. A dog, for example, may whine in sorrow for hours on end when it owner leaves, but once it is in the company of it owner again it may rapidly wag its tail and lick it owner’s ankles in excitement. Why would the dog care to display such emotions if it were not aware, or conscious, of the departure or arrival of its owner? One could still question the consciousness of the animal by saying that the animal may have been happy to see its owner return because it knew that its needs such as water and food were going to be replenished or that since dogs are pack animals it may have felt insecure without another being in its company. However, suppose that all needs of the dog were met and there was another dog there to keep it company. Then once the owner leaves there should be no reason for the dog o show any signs of anxiety or depression because that would mean that the dog is conscious of itself and the surrounding environment. Yet, suppose the dog still whines in sadness when its owner leaves and rapidly wags its tail in joy when upon its owner’s return. How would this act of consciousness be explained? This would cause me to refer to the essay “Do Horses Gallop in Their Sleep?” written by Matt Cartmill of whom uses the law of Morgan’s Cannon to convince an audience that animals are not conscious. Morgan’s Cannon states that;

In no case may we interpret an action as the outcome of the exercise of a higher physical faculty, if it can be interpreted as the outcome of the exercise of one which stands lower in the psychological scale. (965)

I do not agree with Morgan’s Cannon because it is basically stating that if one cannot prove an animal is conscious then the animal must not be. I believe this is flawed because our society is based upon a belief that it cannot prove. That belief is the origin of religion.

Religion is today’s society is linked to all areas of our lifestyle. It is thrown upon us by the government. For example, the Pledge of Alliance, which calls for one nation under god, encourages students from a young age to recite a passage that has a brief reference to God. Thus bringing religion into schools and encouraging a belief in a God that not all students may share. Religion forms the backbone of our moral and criminal justice system as well as being blatantly thrashed in our faces by the media. Nevertheless, the theory of whether or not consciousness exists in animals, like religion, is a matter of opinion or belief. Until it can be proven there really is not a right or wrong theory. That is why, until it can be proven otherwise, I hold steady to my belief that consciousness in animals does exist. It is naпve to think that we as humans are the only beings with the ability to process thoughts and ideas. Animals are more similar to us than we may think.

In the essay “A Case for Animal Rights”, the author Tom Regan explains to his audience his theory of inherent value, which is the theory that all individuals have value that is not affected by race, gender, or income level. Basically everyone is born with a certain right which is that you cannot treat them as a thing or resource. This strengthens my belief that humans and animals have a lot in common. However, now the question that remains is what is the similarity between animals and people? Regan says that:

We are all subjects of life and have conscious minds of our own that allows us to have feelings and emotions that should be acknowledged. (685)

The issue of the similarities between animals and humans goes all the way back to Darwin of whom Thomas S. Deer, author of the essay “Animal Rights, Human” suggests to be,”…common possessions