This essay functions as the introduction to the second issue in a two-part special issue on Walter Veit’s recent monograph A Philosophy for the Science of Animal Consciousness (Routledge, 2023). Here, Veit offers a summary of the remaining six commentaries, as well as his two response pieces.
ChincariniM. (2025). A conceptual Cambrian explosion: Toward a dialogue between consciousness and welfare science. Adaptive Behavior, 34(1), 23–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/10597123251363810
2.
De WeerdC. R. (2025). As above, so below? The limits of evolutionary considerations for supporting hypotheses about consciousness. Adaptive Behavior, 34(1), 7–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/10597123251387493
SinhaA. (2025). To be or not to be conscious: Reflections on the phenomenological complexity of the macaque mind. Adaptive Behavior, 34(1), 35–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/10597123251356934
VeitW. (2025a). Pathological complexity and the function of consciousness in nature: Part 1. Adaptive Behavior, 33(3), 165–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/10597123251345750
VeitW.BrowningH. (2022). Pathological complexity and the evolution of sex differences. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 45, Article e149. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X22000498
16.
VeitW.BrowningH. (2023). Hominin life history, pathological complexity, and the evolution of anxiety. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, Article e79. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X22001923
17.
VeitW. (2026a). Comparative consciousness research in ecological context: Elephants, macaques, plovers, and a case against plant consciousness. Adaptive Behavior, 34(1), 73–92.
18.
VeitW.GascoigneS. J. L.Salguero-GómezR. (2025). Evolution, complexity, and life history theory. Biological Theory, 20, 212–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13752-024-00487-z
19.
VeitW. (2026b). On the evolution, science, and metaphysics of consciousness. Adaptive Behavior, 34(1), 53–71.
