It would seem that beliefs are not a unique feature to us humans. Philosophers Dr. Tobias Starzak and Professor Albert Newen, through their article that was recently published in the journal “Mind and Language”, suggest that animals have that feature, too, because they have flexible behavior. In the article, the philosophers propose four criteria to identify which animals have beliefs. Here is one of the criteria.
The first criterion for the existence of beliefs worked out by the philosophers is that an animal must have information about the world. However, this must not simply lead to an automatic reaction, like a frog instinctively snapping at a passing insect.
Instead, the animal must be able to use the information to behave in a flexible manner. “This is the case when one and the same piece of information can be combined with different motivations to produce different behaviours,” explains Albert Newen. “For example, if the animal can use the information that there is food available at that moment for the purpose of eating or hiding the food.”
Surprisingly, there are some animals who do meet all criteria, which suggests that they really do have beliefs. It should be noted, however, that the beliefs of these creatures are not on the same level as humans.
More details about this over at Neuroscience News.
What are your thoughts about this one?
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