Anthropomorphism, anthropocentrism, and reductionism as obstacles to 21st-century animal cognition research

Abstract

The objective paper is to argue the lack of validity of the reductionist approach to the study of animal cognition and to propose its study from a holistic approach that takes into account the entire reality of animal cognition in addition to analyzing anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism related to this topic. The methodology used for this research was a review of the current literature on the problem in question and the conclusions were that the mind of non-human subjects cannot be understood without a holistic approach. There are numerous biases in scientific research, be it from the observer, from the experimental subject or with respect to the instruments of observation and measurement. Among all the best-known biases, the well-known anthropomorphism has been seen as an unconscious bias where man is reflected in the elements of his external reality. The hypothesis of this research is that reductionism does not take into account all the richness and the true reality of non-human animal cognition and it should be studied better, from a holistic approach that takes into account the entire reality of this phenomenon.