Are We Alone?

Abstract

Abstract: In the chapter we address the remaining issues of consciousness in animals and robots. A good way to address this may be to first figure out what in principle accounts for consciousness in the human cases. From there, we can see if similar mechanisms exist or not in the animals or robots. To make this inductive generalization, we need a theory of consciousness. We introduce the perceptual reality monitoring theory, according to which some animals may not be conscious. And yet, perhaps even a robot or computer program could be. This is to say, it is a functionalist account, based on an empirical interpretation of a variant of higher-order theory of consciousness. To evaluate the theory, we should compare it against other existing theories in terms of plausibility.