Monkeys, Minds, and Mirror Neurons

The discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys suggests to many neuroscientists that they have the rudiments of intentional understanding of others. Yet primatologists generally agree that monkeys lack both the general capacity for intentional imitation and the higher-order intentional capacities related to theory of mind. Given a standard philosophical view about intentional understanding which requires higher-order intentionality, a paradox arises. I discuss ways of resolving the paradox, including rejecting the standard philosophical view. I describe some tantalizing empirical results which indicate that a proper resolution of the paradox will require comparative psychologists, cognitive ethologists, and neuroscientists to take developmental issues far more seriously than they presently do.