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The prior question: Do human primates have a theory of mind?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1998

Robert M. Gordon
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63121 srmgord@umslvma.umsl.edu www.umsl.edu/~philo/vitaes/gordon.html

Abstract

Given Heyes's construal of “theory of mind,” there is still no convincing evidence of theory of mind in human primates, much less nonhuman. Rather than making unfounded assumptions about what underlies human social competence, one should ask what mechanisms other primates have and then inquire whether more sophisticated elaborations of those might not account for much of human competence.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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