Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of Mind

Godfrey-Smith (Other Minds), a University of Sydney history and philosophy of science professor, delivers a rich look at the existence of consciousness in the animal kingdom. Consciousness, he posits, is intrinsically linked to the concept of “subjective experience”—whether an animal exhibits a sense of “point of view [and] self and other” in its “dealings with the world”—and his question is which species can be determined to have the latter trait, and which function on instinct. Godfrey-Smith doesn’t provide a simple answer, but he does argue that many more species are probably sentient than previously thought, including some insects and crustaceans, while asking how this might “change our behavior toward animals and other living things.” His evolutionary approach is rich in biological detail, such as when he compares human brains with octopuses’ distributed neural network in their brain and arms, and nicely complemented by vivid details of the animals he encounters while scuba diving, including a one-armed shrimp and a hermit crab that emits a stinging “mass of bright-orange streamers, like tiny fireworks” when approached. Godfrey-Smith’s passion both for the philosophical subject he tackles and the organisms he visits and discusses comes through clearly in his fascinating work. Agent: Sarah Chalfant, Wylie Agency. (Nov.)