Christopher Hilbert’s research while affiliated with University of Kassel and other places

C. Lloyd Morgan is mostly known for Morgan's canon (An introduction to comparative psychology, Walter Scott, Limited, London, 1894), still a popular and frequently quoted principle in comparative psychology and ethology. There has been a fair amount of debate on the canon's interpretation, function, and value regarding the research on animal minds, usually referring to it as an isolated principle. In this paper we rather shed light on Morgan's overall scientific program and his vision for comparative psychology. We argue that within his program Morgan identified crucial conceptual, ontological, and methodical issues, that are still fundamental to the current research on animal minds. This also highlights a new aspect of his role as one of the "founding fathers" of modern comparative psychology. In order to understand Morgan's program, we briefly outline the historical context in which he began his work on a science of comparative psychology. We will then emphasize to what extent his taxonomy of psychological capacities, the development of his metaphysics for a comparative psychology, and his newly introduced interdisciplinary procedures justify Morgan's distinctive approach to still rather sensitive issues. In doing so, we aim to provide a more comprehensive picture of Morgan's methodological signature and we contend that a proper understanding of his canon can only be gained by taking it as part of this program. We finally understand his most renown considerations as part of his struggle to ascertain the limits and possibilities of the discipline he contributed to set up, and thus emphasize the need to keep the discussion going, notably on the accessibility of other minds than one's own and on the limits of one's research perspectives.

Die Tierphilosophie ist eines der lebendigsten Felder der Gegenwartsphilosophie. Im Mittelpunkt stehen bislang die Frage nach dem Geist der Tiere, das Problem des Tier-Mensch-Unterschiedes und die Themenfelder der Tierethik. Die auf drei Bände angelegte 'Philosophie der Tierforschung' wirft einen neuen Blick auf dieses Gebiet und ergänzt es durch eine stärkere Berücksichtigung des gesamten Kontextes der naturwissenschaftlichen Tierforschung, inklusive der philosophischen Hintergrundannahmen, der Forschungsverfahren und -orte (Labor/Feld), der Handlungslogiken, Denkstile und Sprachspiele der Forscherkollektive sowie der jeweils ausgewählten Modellorganismen. Der erste Band stellt unter dem Titel 'Methoden und Programme' Geschichte und Systematik der biologischen Tierforschung, insbesondere der Verhaltensforschung, in den Mittelpunkt. Die beiden folgenden Bände wenden sich der biowissenschaftlichen Tierforschung hinsichtlich ihrer sozialen und ethischen Konsequenzen sowie bezüglich ausgewählter aktueller Forschungsfragen zu.