Abstract

The object of the essay is to examine what is basically mental in humans as compared to animals. Differences in respect of the concept of will and in respect of the concept of intellect are examined following ideas expressed by Anthony Kenny in The Metaphysics of Mind, and some criticisms are suggested. Accepting the thesis put forward by Edelman as well as by Damasio that a neurological self is necessary for the development of consciousness, a scientific reading is given to Kant�s idea of the self as well as to that of Wittgenstein in the Tractatus. For the same reasons, Wittgenstein�s later rejection of the concept of self is criticized