Philosophy & Consciousness

Daniel Dennett begins his book Kinds of Minds with: "I am a philosopher, not a scientist, and we philosophers are better at questions than answers." However, Dennett is more than just a philosopher, he is also a cognitive scientist. He asks the questions, then goes on to answer them too.

He chronicles how life evolved from self-replicating macromolecules to single-celled organisms and, in time, to complex multi-cellular creatures like Homo sapiens. He explains how the mind must have evolved at the same time. So are animals conscious? Are plants conscious? Are bacteria conscious? After reading Dennett's book you would have to say that, to varying degrees, all life is conscious.

Animals have different kinds of minds, each species having evolved differently, nevertheless animal consciousness is likely to share many of the features of human consciousness. Many people would disagree. Others would say it's quite obviously true. Only experimental science will find out for sure e.g. did you know that bees can count?