Assessing unlimited associative learning as a transition marker

The target paper (building on Ginsburg and Jablonka in JTB 381:55-60, 2015, The evolution of the sensitive soul: Learning and the origins of consciousness, MIT Press, USA, 2019) makes a significant and novel claim: that positive cases of non-human consciousness can be identified via the capacity of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology & philosophy 2021-04, Vol.36 (2)
Main Author: Irvine, Elizabeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Associative learning
Consciousness
Evolution
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Summary:The target paper (building on Ginsburg and Jablonka in JTB 381:55-60, 2015, The evolution of the sensitive soul: Learning and the origins of consciousness, MIT Press, USA, 2019) makes a significant and novel claim: that positive cases of non-human consciousness can be identified via the capacity of unlimited associative learning (UAL). In turn, this claim is generated by a novel methodology, which is that of identifying an evolutionary 'transition marker', which is claimed to have theoretical and empirical advantages over other approaches. In this commentary I argue that UAL does not function as a successful transition marker (as defined by the authors), and has internal problems of its own. However, I conclude that it is still a very productive anchor for new research on the evolution of consciousness.
ISSN:0169-3867
1572-8404
DOI:10.1007/s10539-021-09796-0