(December 19, 2010 at 6:16 am)ziggystardust Wrote: The questions could these different species have what theologians consider a soul, which only humans are supposed to have.
Why theologians assume self-awareness requires an imaginary person living inside you is a mystery which only theologians can answer. For science, it's only necessary to show other species have self-awareness.
However, I'm not convinced the 'mirror test' shows intelligence and /or self-awareness and not just how closely other species resemble humans in their psychology. It seems to me to be anthropocentric to assume higher intelligence means 'more human-like'. I really can't see how any sentient animal can function without a degree of self-awareness. Watch a squirrel navigate through the branches of a tree and ask how it could do so without self-awareness and an ability to plan a route to a future with itself in it.
