How do people think about animals thinking? The words we use about animals speaks a great deal about how we care, and what we are willing to believe they know. Social scientists and ethicists have spent a great deal of time considering what people believe about how animals think, the way our words teach us to respect animals or demean them because of what we want to believe about their ability to think.
This round table discussion brings together four people who have researched the history, lore and practical implications of how the way we think about animals influences human behavior and what people are willing to believe about the study of animal thinking, and animals themselves.