"Morgan's Canon"
                             Elliot Sober
                   Philosophy, Stanford University

In his Introduction to Comparative Psychology (1894), C. Lloyd Morgan
formulates a methodological principle governing whether and how mental
states should be attributed to non-human organisms.  His "canon" states
that one should not attribute a "higher" mental faculty to an organism
if the organism's behavior can be explained by the hypothesis that it
possesses a "lower" faculty.  Something rather like Morgan's canon is
now used in cognitive ethology, and is called the "principle of
conservatism."  Morgan thought his principle is justified by
evolutionary considerations.  I'll discuss Morgan's argument, and the
status of his methodological principle.