Human and Animal Minds: The Consciousness Questions Laid to Rest

The continuities between human and animal minds are increasingly well understood. This has led many people to make claims about consciousness in animals, which has often been taken to be crucial for their moral standing. Peter Carruthers argues compellingly that there is no fact of the matter to be discovered, and that the question of animal consciousness is of no scientific or ethical significance.

Carruthers offers solutions to two related puzzles. The first is about the place of phenomen...