 The Perceptualism/Inferentialism question is critical for the deciding the epistemic value of common sense attributions of mental states to nonhuman animals. If inferentialism is true, then when I see, e.g., a dog bounding around in front of me with a toy in its mouth, wagging its tail and looking at me, then I may consider the possibility that the dog wants my attention, that it is feeling happy and playful — but this is only a hypothesis, for which I must provide a solid argument from justified premises if I am to justifiably believe it. On a perceptualist account, by contrast, I literally see (or at least, seem to see) that the dog wants my attention and feels happy and playful.