The author, Christine Webb, is a Harvard primatologist who is writing about scientific and philosophical issues regarding non-human minds. I listened to the audiobook, which the author reads herself (not the worst reader I've ever listened to but it's good that she has a successful day job). The book was published in September of 2025.
To start, although the title is a semi-accurate description of the book's theme–namely, scientists err when they assess the intelligence of non-humans in anthropocentric terms and find it wanting by comparison–I think it does the book a slight disservice by not adequately expressing how much of the discussion regards non-human life. The book engages in a fair amount of, in my opinion, deserved bashing of the European scientific and philosophical traditions that promote human intellectual exceptionalism, but it does this with a wide-ranging exploration of examples of non-human intelligence that is quite rewarding to read.
If you already have an interest in the minds of animals, some of the examples of non-human intelligence will likely be familiar to you. What makes the book worthwhile is how she uses these examples to show how time and again, going back to the Greeks, western thinkers have erred in their assessment of the inner lives of non-humans because of the conviction that humans are obviously superior.
Being a primatologist, the author starts off showing how we err in assessing their intelligence by, among other things, testing them at activities that they would never encounter in the wild, like at computer tablet activities; or testing them in environments that are likely to hinder their success, like isolated in laboratory cages instead of in natural environments with fellow members of their own species.
From there, the book expands to other mammals, and then birds and fish, crustaceans and insects, plants and slime molds. Along the way she discusses primate-centrism and neuro-centrism. She also shows the interplay between all these ideas and those of racism and colonialism. Eventually she dabbles a little in panpsychism, Native American religious attitudes to non-human life, and Gaia theory.
The end goal is to show how the dominant paradigms regarding non-human minds do a disservice not only to non-human life but to us as well (full disclosure: I am.a human), and are at the root of the ecological crises of our times.
The scientific and philosophical level of discussion in the book is geared toward all readers.
Trigger Warning: Those of you who hate "woke" might have an aneurysm while reading this book.
I enjoyed the book because I love animals, have an interest in the philosophy of mind, and think we need a major course correction in our relationship with the natural world. I, personally, didn't learn a ton I didn't already know but it was a good recap and it helped me put together my various thoughts about these subjects into a cohesive philosophy.
by mindbodyproblem