Evolution and Animal Minds with Peter Godfrey-Smith

About this episode

Peter Godfrey-Smith discusses the evolutionary roots of consciousness and the emergence of felt experience in animals.

Peter Godfrey-Smith, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney, explores the evolutionary roots of consciousness by surveying animal evolution and the emergence of felt experience in several lineages. He examines two central philosophical questions: how such experience might arise gradually, existing in partial forms, and whether it represents a single unified feature with variations or instead a cluster of distinct traits. Author of "Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection," and "Living on Earth: Forests, Corals, Consciousness and the Making of the World," Godfrey-Smith brings his expertise in philosophy of biology and mind to illuminate how consciousness may have emerged and why its origins remain a profound puzzle. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 41065]

People in this episode

Guest: Peter Godfrey-Smith

Topics covered

• evolution
• animal consciousness
• philosophy of biology
• felt experience
• emergence of consciousness

Keywords

• evolution
• consciousness
• animal minds
• philosophy
• biological traits

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Sydney

Books & works: Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection, Living on Earth: Forests, Corals, Consciousness and the Making of the World

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