The question of reason as a criterion of distinction between man and animal

Abstract

The traditional view in modern philosophy considers the distinction between man and other animals as resulting from the possession of reason. This is in keeping with a view of the place of human beings in the whole of nature as a place distinguished from and superior to the place of other forms of life. On the other hand, the gradual change of this attitude leads to an approximation among all forms of life and to a loss of the predominant place attributed to man. Of course all this entails a critique of the traditional concept of reason taken as the exclusively human faculty of fi nding the truth. As it seems, philosophy alone cannot judge to what extent the common origin of man and other species is relevant to the theory of knowledge. Nevertheless, it is a point of major interest to ask how far one can extend the analogy between humans and animals. In the light of the similarities revealed by science, looking for this distinctive element in the cultural environment seems to be much more viable than to look for it in the subject’s cognitive capacities.

Key words: reason, animal, epistemology, knowledge.