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Is there a problem in attributing beliefs and intentionality to animals?

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posted on 2024-11-18, 08:44 authored by Anne Quain
In Dr Seuss’s story, ‘What Was I Scared Of?’1 the protagonist2 confronts a pair of levitating green trousers in a dark wood at night. In spite of the fact that this is a rather strange situation in which to find oneself, and that this other being is completely unknown to her, our heroine - I shall henceforth refer to her as Everyperson - immediately reacts as if these pants were behaving in accordance with some sort of purpose or intention. This is evident in her account of the situation: I wasn’t scared. But, yet, I stopped. What could those pants be there for? What could a pair of pants at night Be standing in the air for?3

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