What distinguishes humans from animals? Do animals think? Do animals have rights? These are the three central questions of animal philosophy. This introduction focuses on the first two questions and presents an approach in which animals are consistently taken as the starting point for philosophical reflection for the first time. Animals are thinking beings, and humans, as animals, are also thinking beings. However, they differ from animals in that they have created a cultural world that allows them to look far beyond animal consciousness. Drawing on new research from behavioral studies on monkeys, crows, and other animals, as well as the thoughts of philosophers such as Descartes, Darwin, Davidson, Dretske, and Derrida, this volume offers a panorama of reflection on animals that also changes the perspective on humans.