Apes, Darwinian Continuity, and the Law
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Chrysippus's Dog As a Case Study in Non-Linguistic Cognition
Chrysippus’s Dog as a Case Study in Non-Linguistic Cognition Michael Rescorla Abstract: I critique an ancient argument for the possibility of non-linguistic deductive inference. The argument, attributed to Chrysippus, describes a dog whose behavior supposedly reflects disjunctive syllogistic reasoning. Drawing on contemporary robotics, I urge that we can equally well explain the dog’s behavior by citing probabilistic reasoning over cognitive maps. I then critique various experimentally-based arguments from scientific psychology that echo Chrysippus’s anecdotal presentation. §1. Language and thought Do non-linguistic creatures think? Debate over this question tends to calcify into two extreme doctrines. The first, espoused by Descartes, regards language as necessary for cognition. Modern proponents include Brandom (1994, pp. 145-157), Davidson (1984, pp. 155-170), McDowell (1996), and Sellars (1963, pp. 177-189). Cartesians may grant that ascribing cognitive activity to non-linguistic creatures is instrumentally useful, but they regard such ascriptions as strictly speaking false. The second extreme doctrine, espoused by Gassendi, Hume, and Locke, maintains that linguistic and non-linguistic cognition are fundamentally the same. Modern proponents include Fodor (2003), Peacocke (1997), Stalnaker (1984), and many others. Proponents may grant that non- linguistic creatures entertain a narrower range of thoughts than us, but they deny any principled difference in kind.1 2 An intermediate position holds that non-linguistic creatures display cognitive activity of a fundamentally different kind than human thought. Hobbes and Leibniz favored this intermediate position. Modern advocates include Bermudez (2003), Carruthers (2002, 2004), Dummett (1993, pp. 147-149), Malcolm (1972), and Putnam (1992, pp. 28-30). -
Cephalopods and the Evolution of the Mind
Cephalopods and the Evolution of the Mind Peter Godfrey-Smith The Graduate Center City University of New York Pacific Conservation Biology 19 (2013): 4-9. In thinking about the nature of the mind and its evolutionary history, cephalopods – especially octopuses, cuttlefish, and squid – have a special importance. These animals are an independent experiment in the evolution of large and complex nervous systems – in the biological machinery of the mind. They evolved this machinery on a historical lineage distant from our own. Where their minds differ from ours, they show us another way of being a sentient organism. Where we are similar, this is due to the convergence of distinct evolutionary paths. I introduced the topic just now as 'the mind.' This is a contentious term to use. What is it to have a mind? One option is that we are looking for something close to what humans have –– something like reflective and conscious thought. This sets a high bar for having a mind. Another possible view is that whenever organisms adapt to their circumstances in real time by adjusting their behavior, taking in information and acting in response to it, there is some degree of mentality or intelligence there. To say this sets a low bar. It is best not to set bars in either place. Roughly speaking, we are dealing with a matter of degree, though 'degree' is not quite the right term either. The evolution of a mind is the acquisition of a tool-kit for the control of behavior. The tool-kit includes some kind of perception, though different animals have very different ways of taking in information from the world. -
"Higher" Cognition. Animal Sentience
Animal Sentience 2017.030: Vallortigara on Marino on Thinking Chickens Sentience does not require “higher” cognition Commentary on Marino on Thinking Chickens Giorgio Vallortigara Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences University of Trento, Italy Abstract: I agree with Marino (2017a,b) that the cognitive capacities of chickens are likely to be the same as those of many others vertebrates. Also, data collected in the young of this precocial species provide rich information about how much cognition can be pre-wired and predisposed in the brain. However, evidence of advanced cognition — in chickens or any other organism — says little about sentience (i.e., feeling). We do not deny sentience in human beings who, because of cognitive deficits, would be incapable of exhibiting some of the cognitive feats of chickens. Moreover, complex problem solving, such as transitive inference, which has been reported in chickens, can be observed even in the absence of any accompanying conscious experience in humans. Giorgio Vallortigara, professor of Neuroscience at the Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences of the University of Trento, Italy, studies space, number and object cognition, and brain asymmetry in a comparative and evolutionary perspective. The author of more than 250 scientific papers on these topics, he was the recipient of several awards, including the Geoffroy Saint Hilaire Prize for Ethology (France) and a Doctor Rerum Naturalium Honoris Causa for outstanding achievements in the field of psychobiology (Ruhr University, Germany). r.unitn.it/en/cimec/abc In a revealing piece in New Scientist (Lawler, 2015a) and a beautiful book (Lawler, 2015b), science journalist Andrew Lawler discussed the possible consequences for humans of the sudden disappearance of some domesticated species. -
The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity (Paperback)
Hello. Sign in to get personalized recommendations. New customer? Start here. FREE 2-Day Shipping, No Minimum Purchase: See details Your Amazon.com | Today's Deals | Gifts & Wish Lists | Gift Cards Your Account | Help Shop All Departments Search Books Cart Wish List Advanced Browse Hot New The New York Libros En Books Bestsellers Bargain Books Textbooks Search Subjects Releases Times® Best Sellers Español Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in. The Great Ape Project: Equality Beyond Humanity Quantity: 1 (Paperback) by Paola Cavalieri (Editor), Peter Singer (Editor) "If there is a single person who has made people appreciate that chimpanzees are individuals with different personalities and complex social relationships, that person is..." (more) or Key Phrases: New York, United States, Jane Goodall (more...) Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering. (6 customer reviews) List Price: $18.99 Price: $15.25 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details More Buying Choices You Save: $3.74 (20%) 53 used & new from $2.58 In Stock. Have one to sell? Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available. Share with Friends Want it delivered Friday, July 3? Order it in the next 11 hours and 37 Share your own customer images minutes, and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details Search inside this book 20 new from $5.99 33 used from $2.58 Tell the Publisher! I’d like to read this book Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers: on Kindle Hardcover (1st U.S. -
THE CAGE IS a STAGE a Project in Five Parts by Emily Mast
“Allow us to direct your attention to the front cover of this book—its face if you like. What do you see? . What affects does the appearance of such an image engender in you? . Is the image before you human? What critical registers are you using to determine such a response? What does the term ‘human’ and its so-called inverse, ‘non-human’ mean to you? How have you come upon such knowledge? What cultural resonances, in other words, inform your views?” (Noreen Giffney and Myra J. Hird, “Introduction,” in Queering the Non/Human, p. 1) THE CAGE IS A STAGE A project in five parts by Emily Mast Made in collaboration with and performed by Heyward Bracey, Kiara Gamboa, Garrett Hallman, Angelina Prendergast and Joe Seely Curated by Julia Paoli and Christine Shaw Part 1: Part 2: THE CAGE IS A STAGE THE CAGE IS A STAGE (PROOF*) (BLEED**) Exhibition at the Blackwood Gallery Exhibition at the e|gallery June 22–September 18, 2016 June 22–September 18, 2016 Opening reception: Opening reception and performances: Saturday, June 25, 2016, 2pm–5pm Saturday, June 25, 2016, 2pm–5pm FREE and open to the public FREE and open to the public Blackwood Gallery, Kaneff Centre e|gallery, CCT Building University of Toronto Mississauga University of Toronto Mississauga 3359 Mississauga Road 3359 Mississauga Road Mississauga, ON Mississauga, ON blackwoodgallery.ca blackwoodgallery.ca A five channel video installation featuring A gallery exhibition and printed score that five consecutive rehearsals of one section invite immersion and participation from of the evening-length performance. With the visitor. -
The Cognitive Animal : Empirical and Theoretical Perspectives on Animal Cognition
Contents Introduction ix 11 Learning and Memory Without a Contributors xvii Brain 77 James W. Grau THE DIVERSITY OF 12 Cognitive Modulation of Sexual COGNITION Behavior 89 Michael Domjan The Inner Life of Earthworms: Darwin's Argument and Us 13 Cognition and Emotion in Concert Implications 3 in Human and Nonhuman Animals 97 Eileen Crist Ruud van den Bos, Bart B. Houx, and Berry M. Spruijt 2 Crotalomorphism: A Metaphor for U nderstanding Anthropomorphism 14 Constructing Animal Cognition 105 by Omission 9 William Timberlake Jesús Rivas and Gordon M. 15 Genetics, Plasticity, and the Burghardt Evolution of Cognitive Processes 115 3 The Cognitive Defender: How Gordon M. Burghardt Ground Squirrels Assess Their 16 Spatial Behavior, Food Storing, and Predators 19 the Modular Mind 123 Donald H. Owings Sara J. Shettleworth 4 Jumping Spider Tricksters: Deceit, 17 Spatial and Social Cognition in Predation, and Cognition 27 Corvids: An Evolutionary Approach 129 Stim Wilcox and Robert Jackson Russell P. Balda and Alan C. 5 The Ungulate Mind 35 Kamil John A. Byers 18 Environmental Complexity, Signal 6 Can Honey Bees Create Cognitive Detection, and the Evolution of Maps? 41 Cognition 135 James L. Gould Peter Godfrey-Smith 7 Raven Consciousness 47 19 Cognition as an Independent Bernd Heinrich Variable: Virtual Ecology 143 Alan C. Kamil and Alan B. Bond 8 Animal Minds, Human Minds 53 Eric Saidel 20 Synthetic Ethology: A New Tool for Investigating Animal Cognition 151 9 Comparative Developmental Bruce MacLennan Evolutionary Psychology and Cognitive Ethology: Contrasting but 21 From Cognition in Animals to Compatible Research Programs 59 Cognition in Superorganisms 157 Sue Taylor Parker Charles E. -
ISAZ Newsletter Number 19, May 2000
(GLWR(GLWRUU -R 6ZDEH 1/ $VVRFLDWH (GLWRU 3HQQ\ %HUQVWHLQ 86$ &RQWHQWV $$UUWLWLFFOHVOHV 55HFHLYHHFHLYHGG The Unexplained Powers of Animals Rupert Sheldrake ‘In it for the Animals’: Animal Welfare, Moral Certainty and Disagreements Nicola Taylor Cultural Studies as a Means for Elucidating the Human- Animal Relationship in Zoos Randy Malamud $$QWKUR]QWKUR]RRRORJLFRORJLFDDOO99LVLRQLVLRQVV An interview with Bernard Rollin on his vision of the human-animal relationship Jo Swabe &HQWUHV RI 55HHVHDUFVHDUFKK The Anthrozoology Institute, UK %RR%RRNNVVHWFHWF Reviews of Sanders’ Understanding Dogs; Beyond Violence: The Human-Animal Connection PYSETA video Plus, info on books Hot off the Presses and News from the Net *UHHWLQJV IURIURPP00HHHWHWLLQQJV 1999 Delta Society Annual Conference 0HHWLQJV RI 'LVWLQF'LVWLQFWWLRQLRQ 22IIIILFLFLLDODO ,6$= %XVLQH%XVLQHVVVV KWWSZZZVRWRQDFXNaD]LLVD]KWP ,6$=1HZVOHWWHU -XO\ 1XPEHU $$UWLFOUWLFOHHVV 5HFH5HFHLLYHGYHG THE UNEXPLAINED POWERS OF ANIMALS Rupert Sheldrake 20 Willow Road, London NW3 1TJ, UK [email protected] www.sheldrake.org For many years animal trainers, pet owners hundreds of animal trainers, shepherds, blind and naturalists have reported various kinds of people with guide dogs, veterinarians and pet perceptiveness in animals that suggest the owners, I have been investigating some of existence of psychic powers. Surprisingly these unexplained powers of animals. There little research has been done on these are three major categories of seemingly phenomena. Biologists have been inhibited mysterious -
Chimpanzee Rights: the Philosophers' Brief
Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers’ Brief By Kristin Andrews Gary Comstock G.K.D. Crozier Sue Donaldson Andrew Fenton Tyler M. John L. Syd M Johnson Robert C. Jones Will Kymlicka Letitia Meynell Nathan Nobis David M. Peña-Guzmán Jeff Sebo 1 For Kiko and Tommy 2 Contents Acknowledgments…4 Preface Chapter 1 Introduction: Chimpanzees, Rights, and Conceptions of Personhood….5 Chapter 2 The Species Membership Conception………17 Chapter 3 The Social Contract Conception……….48 Chapter 4 The Community Membership Conception……….69 Chapter 5 The Capacities Conception……….85 Chapter 6 Conclusions……….115 Index 3 Acknowledgements The authors thank the many people who have helped us throughout the development of this book. James Rocha, Bernard Rollin, Adam Shriver, and Rebecca Walker were fellow travelers with us on the amicus brief, but were unable to follow us to the book. Research assistants Andrew Lopez and Caroline Vardigans provided invaluable support and assistance at crucial moments. We have also benefited from discussion with audiences at the Stanford Law School and Dalhousie Philosophy Department Colloquium, where the amicus brief was presented, and from the advice of wise colleagues, including Charlotte Blattner, Matthew Herder, Syl Ko, Tim Krahn, and Gordon McOuat. Lauren Choplin, Kevin Schneider, and Steven Wise patiently helped us navigate the legal landscape as we worked on the brief, related media articles, and the book, and they continue to fight for freedom for Kiko and Tommy, and many other nonhuman animals. 4 1 Introduction: Chimpanzees, Rights, and Conceptions of Personhood In December 2013, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) filed a petition for a common law writ of habeas corpus in the New York State Supreme Court on behalf of Tommy, a chimpanzee living alone in a cage in a shed in rural New York (Barlow, 2017). -
A Reading List for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors: a Personal View Paul Froeschl University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal Issue 8 Article 12 7-1-1993 A Reading List for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors: A Personal View Paul Froeschl University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/hmnj Part of the Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Froeschl, Paul (1993) "A Reading List for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors: A Personal View," Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal: Iss. 8, Article 12. Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/hmnj/vol1/iss8/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Claremont at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Reading List for Undergraduate Mathematics Majors A Personal View PaulFroeschJ University ofMinnesota Minneapolis, MN This has been a reflective year. Early in 4. Science and Hypothesis, Henri Poincare. September I realized that Jwas starting my twenty- fifth year of college teaching. Those days and 5. A Mathematician 's Apol0D'.GR. Hardy. years of teaching were ever present in my mind One day in class I mentioned a book (I forget 6. HistOO' of Mathematics. Carl Boyer. which one now) that I thought my students There are perhaps more thorough histories, (mathematics majors) should read before but for ease of reference and early graduating. One of them asked for a list of such accessibility for nascent mathematics books-awonderfully reflective idea! majors this histoty is best, One list was impossible, but three lists 7. HistorY of Calculus, Carl Boyer. -
Program and Abstracts
PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS SYMPOSIUM ON UNIVERSITY RESEARCH AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION 15TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE CENTRAL WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ELLENSBURG, WASHINGTON MAY 20, 2010 STUDENT UNION AND RECREATION CENTER SPONSORED BY: Office of the President Office of the Provost Office of Graduate Studies and Research Office of Undergraduate Studies The Central Washington University Foundation College of Arts and Humanities College of Business College of Education and Professional Studies College of the Sciences James E. Brooks Library Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Len Thayer Small Grants Programs The Wildcat Shop CWU Dining Services The Copy Cat Shop The Educational Technology Center A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR COMMUNITY SPONSORS: Kelley and Wayne Quirk – Major Supporter Deborah and Roger Fouts – Program Supporter Kirk and Cheri Johnson – Program Supporter Anthony Sowards – Program Supporter Associated Earth Sciences – Morning Reception Sponsor GeoEngineers – Morning Poster Session Sponsor Valley Vision Associates – Program Supporter SOURCE is partially funded by student activities fees. 1 CONTENTS History and Goals of the Symposium ................................................................................4 Student Fashion Show ......................................................................................................4 Student Art Show ...............................................................................................................5 Big Brass Blowout .............................................................................................................5 -
Biology & Science Fact Sheet
© 2006 Summit Ministries (summit.org) BIOLOGY & SCIENCE FACT SHEET KEY VERSES: Genesis 1 John 1:1–3 Hebrews 11:3 Mark 10:6 Colossians 1:16–17 KEY PUBLICATIONS: Answers Magazine | www.answersingenesis.org | Creation Research Society Quarterly | www.creationresearch.org | Acts & Facts | www.icr.org | KEY QUOTES: Evolutionists "Evolution is a fact amply demonstrated by the fossil record and by contemporary molecular biology. Natural selection is a successful theory devised to explain the fact of evolution."1 "Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind. He was not planned. He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal, and a species of the Order Primates, akin nearly or remotely to all of life and indeed to all that is material."2 "Biology teaches us that the species man was not specially created but is merely, in a long chain of evolutionary changes of forms of life, the last link, made in the likeness not of God but of nothing so much as an ape."3 "With me, the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?"4 Creationists/ID "The essential point of creation has nothing to do with the timing or the mechanism the Creator chose to employ, but with the element of design or purpose. -
Carl Sagan 1934–1996
Carl Sagan 1934–1996 A Biographical Memoir by David Morrison ©2014 National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. CARL SAGAN November 9, 1934–December 20, 1996 Awarded 1994 NAS Pubic Welfare Medal Carl Edward Sagan was a founder of the modern disci- plines of planetary science and exobiology (which studies the potential habitability of extraterrestrial environments for living things), and he was a brilliant educator who was able to inspire public interest in science. A visionary and a committed defender of rational scientific thinking, he transcended the usual categories of academia to become one of the world’s best-known scientists and a true celebrity. NASA Photo Courtesy of Sagan was propelled in his careers by a wealth of talent, By David Morrison a large share of good luck, and an intensely focused drive to succeed. His lifelong quests were to understand our plane- tary system, to search for life beyond Earth, and to communicate the thrill of scientific discovery to others. As an advisor to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and a member of the science teams for the Mariner, Viking, Voyager, and Galileo missions, he was a major player in the scientific exploration of the solar system. He was also a highly popular teacher, but his influence reached far beyond the classroom through his vivid popular writing and his mastery of the medium of television. The early years Born in 1934, Sagan grew up in a workingclass Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, and attended public schools there and in Rahway, New Jersey.