[StrongHeartsWin]

Quote by: Sonart . Honor Among Beasts Think altruism, empathy and a sense of fair play are traits only humans possess? Think again -- TIME Magazine, July 14, 2005 --"Only a decade or so ago, scientists were arguing vigorously over whether animals had emotions: just because a dog looks sad or a chimp appears to be embarrassed doesn't mean it really is, the skeptics said. That argument is pretty much over. The idea of animal emotion is now accepted as part of mainstream biology. And thanks to Bekoff and other researchers, ethologists are also starting to accept the once radical idea that some animals--primarily the social ones such as dogs, chimps, hyenas, monkeys, dolphins, birds and even rats--possess not just raw emotions but also subtler and more sophisticated mental states, including envy, empathy, altruism and a sense of fairness. "They have the ingredients we use for morality," says Frans de Waal, a professor of primate behavior at Emory University in Atlanta, referring to the monkeys and chimps he studies."-- Does this qualify as 'ego' or true self-awareness. If not, it seems pretty darn close. .

hehehehe...and when more and more answers are forthcoming propelling them even closer to ourselves in many aspects, a critical tipping point will have arrived in our view and treatment of them and what they deserve. Not only the ARists will push the debate in that direction, but so, too will the scientists, ethologists, and philosophers, and ethicists. We can already see this happening. The excerpt above is a prime example of the steps in that direction.

Good reference, Sonart.