 Cognition is often understood to be what permits flexible goal-oriented behavior through information processing. Comparative cognition research examines which animal behaviors are cognitive, and what sort of cognitive mechanisms or processes permit that behavior. Questions include: What sort of representations do animals need to solve particular tasks; do they have mental maps, metacognition, or number concepts? How do animals learn; do they only have associative learning processes, or do they also learn through trial-and-error, play, insight, or social imitation? How do animals solve problems; do they engage in logical reasoning, causal reasoning, future planning? Philosophers take up these questions, and complement them with questions of their own, such as: Do animals have beliefs? Which animals are conscious? What is the relationship between language and thought? Are animals rational? Answering any of these questions requires both scientific investigation into the phenomenon and conceptual analysis of the psychological property at stake. The philosophy of animal minds promises to help us gain a deeper understanding of familiar concepts by exploring them in a new and sometimes foreign context—in the lives and communities of other species.