Thought(less) Brutes

What Does It Mean to Think, and Whether a Language is Prerequisite for Thinking

Abstract

In this panel discussion, the author of the focus article starts with a discussion of a topical philosophical problem — the validity of the claim that animals think (and if they do think, what does it mean). Then she turns to a more metaphysical and at the same time analytical arguments about relationship between the concepts “rationality” and “thinking.” The greatest philosophical tension of reasoning is reached when the argument turns to a purely metaphysical issue of that particular kind of knowledge which is possible to achieve despite the language, being at the same time on the “border” or even beyond the “limits” of the world. Other panel discussion participants discuss the same issues. They criticize certain theses of the focus article, offer their own definitions for the terms “rationality,” “thinking” and “consciousness,” and propose interesting solutions to the questions posed.