Kristin Featured in People of YU

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Written By Kristin Andrews

Kristin was recently featured in People of YU.

“Animal minds research fits into the department of philosophy because in philosophy we're interested in the nature of mind and what is the mind. So, how do I know you have a mind? How do I know anyone has a mind? I know I have a mind, I experience it, but I have to kind of guess that you have a mind, or figure it out, or just treat you like you have a mind. And so, we can ask the same questions about cats and dogs and dolphins, and if we're interacting with our dog and our cat, we just treat them like they have a mind. So, we see their minds the way we see other human minds but how do we justify our belief in their minds? That's when the philosophy part comes in."

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Two new papers on social norms in animals:

In Search of Animal Normativity: A framework for studying social norms in non-human animals in Biological Reviews focuses on how to identify behavioral patterns in animal communities that are socially maintained, and thus have the hallmark of social norms.

This was big team philosophy & science. Evan Westra, Simon Fitzpatrick, Sarah F. Brosnan, Thibaud Gruber, Catherine Hobaiter, Lydia M. Hopper, Daniel Kelly, Christopher Krupenye, Lydia V. Luncz, Jordan Theriault, Kristin Andrews

Human and Nonhuman Norms: A dimensional framework looks at the psychological mechanisms and social structures that can support social norms in humans and in other species. Animals have the right kinds of minds for social norms.

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Kristin Andrews

Kristin Andrews is Professor of Philosophy and York Research Chair in Animal Minds. She is the author of several books on animal mind, consciousness, sociality, morality, and methods in the science of animal mind studies.

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