Descartes asserted that animals lack a mind or soul and behave like machines. What is this view called?

• A. Behaviorist view
• B. Biological view
• C. Empirical view
• D. Descartes' view of animals

Answer: (D)

The key idea here is that Descartes believed animals do not have minds or conscious experiences and instead behave purely as machines driven by physiological processes. This stance, attributed to Descartes and often described as the Cartesian view or Cartesian mechanism, sets animal behavior in terms of automata with no mental life. It’s distinct from behaviorism, which focuses on observable responses but doesn’t claim animals are mindless machines as a philosophical position, and from broader biological or empirical labels that don’t specify Descartes’ claim about animal consciousness. So this labeling directly names Descartes’ specific position about animals, making it the best fit.