The hypothesis of the outside world. Notes on mental representations and cognitive evolution in vertebrates

Recent research in fields such as psychology, biology and cognitive ethology has revived debates on the possibility of knowledge of the external world in humans and of the knowledge of the environment in other animals. Taking into account the current debates in these disciplines, this paper approaches the problems of epistemology from a naturalized perspective, asking not only what knowledge human beings can derive from reality, but also what aspects of this reality can be accessed by other animals.