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Morgan's Canon Revisited
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
Abstract
The famous ethological maxim known as ‘Morgan's Canon’ continues to be an object of interpretive controversy. I reconsider Morgan's Canon in light of two questions: First, what did Morgan intend? Second, is this, or perhaps some reinterpretation of the Canon, useful within cognitive ethology? As for the first issue, Morgan's distinction between higher and lower faculties is suggestive of an early supervenience concept. As for the second issue, the Canon, both in its original form and in various recent rereadings, offers nothing useful to cognitive ethology.
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- Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association
Footnotes
I would like to thank Elliot Sober, Collin Allen, and the anonymous referees at Philosophy of Science for helpful comments.
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