It is easy to conceive of an animal more intelligent than man, that is to say, capable of more ingenious inventions in order to achieve its final conditions, to act according to valences in its vital domain -- but remaining, nonetheless, in a vital domain without acceding to the world of values and meanings, i.e., to the human level.And, one might add, it is sometimes easy to imagine the human species creating, or indeed even becoming, such an animal.
--Raymond Ruyer, "The Vital Domain of Animals and the Religious World of Man."
Ruyer is not much known in English, it seems; I've been able to find only a few essays. There's a case to be made that he was a strong influence on Deleuze. You can find some other pointers about him at Neofinalism and courtesy of the apparently indefatigable Taylor Atkins, here and here.
