THP Evidentialism to Morgan's Canon

THP Evidentialism to Morgan's Canon

Date set
Jan. 23, 2026
Tournament
University of Chicago
Topics
Philosophy, Environment
Background slide

Morgan’s Canon is a widely accepted epistemic principle in animal cognitive testing. It states that animal behavior should not be attributed to complex (cognitive) processes when it can be reasonably attributed to simple (non-cognitive) processes. Morgan’s Canon dictates that researchers should always default to the least cognitively sophisticated explanation consistent with the available data. Evidentialism, on the