The Dawn of Reason; or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals

Name: The Dawn of Reason; or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals
Author: Jr. James Weir

By Jr. James Weir

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Psychiatry/Psychology Science - Biology

About This Book

A concise popular-science survey argues that mental traits extend through animals below humans, demonstrating sensory capacities, simple consciousness, and the gradual emergence of deliberate action. It systematically examines the senses, including touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing, and describes how sensory input and nerve elements produce conscious determination and reflexes in simple organisms. Memory is analyzed by categories (locality, kin, strangers, events), while chapters document emotions, aesthetic responses, parental care, and rudimentary reasoning across invertebrates and vertebrates. Specialized topics include color change and homing as true senses, death-feigning and mimicry, social organization and division of labor in social insects, and experimental evidence supporting evolutionary explanations for instincts and intelligence.

About the Author

Jr. James Weir

James Weir, Jr. was an American author known for his explorations of the intersections between psychology, religion, and sexuality. His notable works include "Religion and Lust / or, The Psychical Correlation of Religious Emotion and Sexual Desire," which delves into the complex relationship between spiritual and sexual impulses, and "The Dawn of Reason; or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals," where he examines cognitive traits in non-human species. Weir's writings reflect a keen interest in the psychological underpinnings of human behavior and the evolutionary aspects of mental processes.