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Throughout this course of study, the concept of language as the demarcation between animals and humans has prevailed. Further, as we have seen in our class readings, many claim that it is through language that our "consciousness" and "cognitive" skills are developed. Accordingly, these skills are necessary for us to interpret and conceptualize our world. What this infers is that because we have these skills and the "brute" animals do not, animals do not possess …

…at a level of sophistication that matches human beings. Maybe another way to tackle the question of animal consciousness would be to try to think in terms of the animal mind instead of in terms of the human mind. Either way one looks at this issue, after considering the facts presented in "Kanzi", there can be no question as to the validity for the argument that many animals possess a level of consciousness and understanding.