Very neat. But I would have thought that a pedant might refuse to recognize a distinction on pedantic grounds? In any case, I'm only a pedant when I w...
On the one hand, anthropomorphism, on the other mechanism. No escape. Steer a careful course between the two, and be prepared to change direction as n...
That's true. What I'm after is that truth is not the only criterion in play. There's also the desire to understand and to be understood. That may requ...
Well, either I'm not recognizing the distinction, or I'm not recognizing how fundamental it is. Perhaps if you were specific, it would be possible to ...
As our discussion of week-ends below shows, they don't. That's true. But one feels that the version for other people is not the truth, because it does...
Perhaps so. But it depend whether the dog is going to generalize in the same way that we do. Most of the time, they get it right, because they underst...
Sort of. To save a lot of words that may or may not be unnecessary, here's my edited version, and then you can ask about any changes that you like. My...
I intended to post this after I had made some comments. So now I am adding them. That doesn't mean it is not a rational response, does it? But one cou...
From another perspective, the question is what notion of "rational" enables us to explain the fact that some animals are capable of learning how to op...
I never expect to change anyone's mind - except possibly at the margins. Major changes of mind take a lot of time. Oh, I was working to the usual idea...
That is a very popular quote - I'm fond of it myself. But Aristotle didn't mean by "political" what we mean by it; we took the Greek word and distorte...
Yes. Note that Chomsky and I part ways at this point. The definition begs the question whether animal communication systems count as languages. I'll l...
That explains a good deal that was puzzling me. I suppose that's an example of how one tends to get over-focused in these discussions. On the other ha...
No, I mean sensitivity, which can be excessive, just as insensitivity can be excessive. There was a major fuss at one point in the seventies, when peo...
I'm afraid that opposition is under severe pressure. There's a lot of research these days into the relationship (intertwining) of them. For example:- ...
Yes. I didn't mean to suggest that we know absolutely nothing. The DNA evidence is good enough for me. So is the evidence from archaeology. But I also...
Yes. Not just in formal teaching/learning situations, but in everyday interaction. At that age, everything is a learning opportunity. We can't say eit...
Those are both real problems. But I don't think it is just a question of religious dogma, but of metaphysical and ethical dogma. It gets used as an at...
This is exactly right, in one way. It is a question of interpreting what is in front of us. There's a problem, however, about the distinction between ...
OK. So it turns out that you will accept that a dog's reaction is a rational response, but deny that the dog is rational because they don't "use reaso...
I don't doubt it. But I'm not clear what point you think we are missing. The key question is what, if anything, distinguishes humans from other animal...
Yes, you are right. But you are setting a very high bar. Most of what we do does not involve critical thinking. Left to ourselves, we will only think ...
H'm. In a way, I'm glad to hear it. I do agree that it is not an easy matter to identify what beliefs and what desires motivate animals. A general, pe...
How do you know that their behaviour is not rational "like our behaviour is rational"? Is there some other kind of rational that it could be? Why do y...
No, Knocking down the gate is perfectly rational, if it works for you. What is very telling is if the elephant tries to knock down the gate, finds s/h...
In my book, opening doors and gates is rational thinking. Battering them down would not be, unless it was preceded by trying to open them. I can't ass...
Maybe I'm just stubborn, but I think that truth is not an issue that can be resolved by voting. Though I know that being in a minority can be discoura...
No, you won't. I'm talking about a philosophical position or even assumption, that the only true rational process is articulate reasoning which can on...
That's politics for you. But I always understood that he was very effective (more effective than JFK?) in getting Civil Rights legislation through. I ...
Do you suppose that I have any way of "really" understanding how any mother, never mind the mother of wildebeest, feels about the loss of a child - ev...
So the mid-20th century party is the one you joined? Do you agree with fishfry about what the party has become? If so, that's also the story of the La...
I've done that. I couldn't find delete either. I think there isn't one. Though you can edit posts, so you can go to edit and delete the entire text an...
You could be right. But there are many contenders in the field. Language, (Rational) Thinking, Tool-making, Culture, Empathy, Moral sense, Social livi...
That's what comes of a) not thinking with the crowd and b) thinking about philosophy. I'm not ignoring you - it's just that I have limited bandwidth. ...
This (which, in theory, I was perfectly aware of) made me look at things differently. Which is what good philosophy is all about. There are enough way...
At least some animals learn from each other (likely by means of mimicry) and even pass on (some of) what they have learnt to succeeding generations. (...
Not knowing what scientific humanism is, I wouldn't want to comment on what it loses sight of. Come to think of it, I don't even know what the very th...
Actually, that's how I read it. I suppose the problem is that the translation inevitably introduces distinctions and ways of thinking that may or may ...
I had no idea. I don't recall the Klan being even mentioned in the coverage here. I bet you were. I don't suppose you ever had a chance to talk with h...
Thank you. That may be short, but it gets to what I was trying to say. And then I was trying to say that Labour has exactly the same problem. The work...
I knew it had roots in earlier myths. I didn't know exactly which myths. So thanks. I've learnt something. A couple of observations/questions about Ge...
We know about their habits. What we don't know is how they thought about them. I can see the point about the predators in the abstract, but that's not...
There might be a single difference that explains all the difference. But there might not. There might be a key difference. But there might not. The di...
Well, you are making a case, so obviously it is possible to do so. I notice that you seem to accept that this is not the only, and not the only releva...
I'm sorry. There is in; deed a wide spectrum. I wanted to undermine the idea that actions are either rational (plan, execute, enjoy liberty/food/ what...
Yes. I knew that. I'm sorry I wasn't clear. What I didn't know is that most blacks (I'm assuming you mean most blacks who weren't slaves) belonged to ...
I have to be honest. I'm afraid I lost the thread of this conversation. I'm not sure what I was saying here as well. It's a pity. I thought we were do...
"Stimulus and response" can cover a multitude of sins, including rational responses to events as they happen, but I get what you're after. Where I dif...
It certainly is. Though I sometimes wonder why he left insects and fish out of his hierarchy. There's that sneaky little "true" rationality. Which mea...
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