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cover of episode Do Animals Understand Death?, with Susana Monsó

Do Animals Understand Death?, with Susana Monsó

2025/3/6
logo of podcast Big Brains

Big Brains
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This chapter explores the philosophical debate on whether animals can comprehend death, diving into Susana Monso's research that challenges the prevailing human-centric views.
  • Philosophers traditionally believe only humans understand death.
  • Susana Monso challenges this notion in her book.
  • The concept of death involves sophisticated psychological capacities.

Shownotes Transcript

What does it mean to understand death? For centuries, philosophers have argued that only humans can truly comprehend mortality. But what if they’re wrong?

In this episode, we speak with philosopher Susana Monsó, author of Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death, to explore whether animals can grasp their own mortality. From grieving elephants to corpse-removing ants and possums that play dead, we investigate what animal behavior reveals about their concept of death. Do dogs understand when their owners pass away? Do predators recognize a corpse as different from prey? And what does this mean for how we treat animals?