Posted: Jul 29, 2014 7:22 am
I think this ties in to the idea of consciousness - of being aware that one is an individual- aware that others are individuals.
Unless an animal has the ability to recognise itself and others as active thinking individuals it probably couldn't recognise a particular individual as being 'dead'.
The mirror test is designed to test an animals ability to self recognise and the wiki page gives a list of animals known to have the ability; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_test
Having a concept of 'self' and one of 'mortality' are not identical of course but it seems logical to imagine they are closely related.
Unless an animal has the ability to recognise itself and others as active thinking individuals it probably couldn't recognise a particular individual as being 'dead'.
The mirror test is designed to test an animals ability to self recognise and the wiki page gives a list of animals known to have the ability; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_test
Having a concept of 'self' and one of 'mortality' are not identical of course but it seems logical to imagine they are closely related.