?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Evolution+and+Mirror+Neurons.+An+Introduction+to+the+Nature+of+Self-Consciousness&rft.creator=Menant%2C+Christophe&rft.subject=Computational+Neuroscience&rft.subject=Primatology&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.subject=Behavioral+Analysis&rft.subject=Behavioral+Neuroscience&rft.subject=Animal+Behavior&rft.subject=Animal+Cognition&rft.subject=Artificial+Intelligence&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Epistemology&rft.description=Self-consciousness+is+a+product+of+evolution.+Few+people+today+disagree+with+the+evolutionary+history+of+humans.+But+the+nature+of+self-consciousness+is+still+to+be+explained%2C+and+the+story+of+evolution+has+rarely+been+used+as+a+framework+for+studies+on+consciousness+during+the+20th+century.+This+last+point+may+be+due+to+the+fact+that+modern+study+of+consciousness+came+up+at+a+time+where+dominant+philosophical+movements+were+not+in+favor+of+evolutionist+theories+(Cunningham+1996).+Research+on+consciousness+based+on+Phenomenology+or+on+Analytic+Philosophy+has+been+mostly+taking+the+characteristics+of+humans+as+starting+points.+Relatively+little+has+been+done+with+bottom-up+approaches%2C+using+performances+of+animals+as+a+simpler+starting+point+to+understand+the+generation+of+consciousness+through+evolution.+But+this+status+may+be+changing%2C+thanks+to+new+tools+coming+from+recent+discoveries+in+neurology.%0AThe+discovery+of+mirror+neurons+about+ten+years+ago+(Gallese+et+al.+1996%2C++Rizzolatti+et+al.+1996)+has+allowed+the+built+up+of+new+conceptual+tools+for+the+understanding+of+intersubjectivity+within+humans+and+non+human+primates+(Gallese+2001%2C+Hurley+2005).+Studies+in+these+fields+are+still+in+progress%2C+with+discussions+on+the+level+of+applicability+of+this+natural+intersubjectivity+to+non+human+primates+(Decety+and+Chaminade+2003).++%0AWe+think+that+these+subject%2Fconspecific+mental+relations+made+possible+by+mirror+neurons+can+open+new+paths+for+the+understanding+of+the+nature+of+self-consciousness+via+an+evolutionist+bottom-up+approach.%0AWe+propose+here+a+scenario+for+the+build+up+of+self-consciousness+through+evolution+by+a+specific+analysis+of+two+steps+of+evolution%3A+first+step+from+simple+living+elements+to+non+human+primates+comparable+to+chimpanzees%2C+and+second+step+from+these+non+human+primates+to+humans.+We+identify+these+two+steps+as+representing+the+evolution+from+basic+animal+awareness+to+body+self-awareness%2C+and+from+body+self-awareness+to+self-consciousness.+(we+consider+that+today+non+human+primates+are+comparable+to+what+were+pre-human+primates).%0AWe+position+body+self-awareness+as+corresponding+to+the+performance+of+mirror+self+recognition+as+identified+with+chimpanzees+and+orangutans+(Gallup).+We+propose+to+detail+and+understand+the+content+of+this+body+self-awareness+through+a+specific+evolutionist+build+up+process+using+the+performances+of+mirror+neurons+and+group+life.%0AWe+address+the+evolutionary+step+from+body+self-awareness+to+self-consciousness+by+complementing+the+recently+proposed+approach+where+self-consciousness+is+presented+as+a+by-product+of+body+self-awareness+amplification+via+a+positive+feedback+loop+resulting+of+anxiety+limitation+(Menant+2004).%0AThe+scenario+introduced+here+for+the+build+up+of+self-consciousness+through+evolution+leaves+open+the+question+about+the+nature+of+phenomenal-consciousness+(Block+2002).+We+plan+to+address+this+question+later+on+with+the+help+of+the+scenario+made+available+here.+&rft.date=2005&rft.type=Conference+Paper&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4533%2F1%2FCharts.pdf&rft.identifier=++Menant%2C+Christophe++(2005)+Evolution+and+Mirror+Neurons.+An+Introduction+to+the+Nature+of+Self-Consciousness.++%5BConference+Paper%5D++++(Unpublished)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4533%2F