This thesis is about self-consciousness and how we might be able to determine its existence in non-human animals and human infants. By 'self-consciousness' I mean something very like the type of self-consciousness possessed by normal human adults. I examine the nature of self-consciousness, explore the connection between self-consciousness and concept possession, and review research into animal and infant self-consciousness. I conclude that there are ways to determine the existence of

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... iousness in animals based on observations of their behaviour, and that sufficient evidence exists to conclusively ascribe self-consciousness to chimpanzees. Furthermore, there are strong indications that self-consciousness is probably possessed by dolphins, elephants and some corvid species such as magpies and scrub jays. This thesis is divided into two main parts. Part 1 (chapters 1-4) is mostly theoretical. In part 1 I discuss the nature of self-consciousness and how we can tell it is possessed by an organism. Part 2 (chapters 5-8) applies this analysis in the evaluation of various research paradigms on self-consciousness in animals and human infants. I conclude the thesis with chapter 9, in which I summarise the main arguments and conclusions presented and offer some thoughts about future research. In chapter 1 I define and defend my conception self-consciousness, which I encapsulate as an understanding of one's own existence as a psychological subject with intentional agency. I also briefly review several research paradigms and foreshadow the conclusions reached in part 2. In chapter 2 I explore some central issues in the philosophy of self-consciousness and find a common thread, a Fundamental Dichotomy between relationalism, which sees self-consciousness as always involving a relation between a subject and a mental state, and intrinsicism, which regards self-consciousness as immediate and unmediated. Relationalism is the correct position for a self-concept while intrinsicism holds only for non-conceptual self-access. [...]