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CONTENTS
Contents
1 Introduction 2 Language versus other forms of communication 3 Animal communication in the wild 4 Can non-humans be taught language? 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 3 5 8 15
Chimpanzees and bonobos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Gorillas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Dolphins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Parrots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 27
5 Language, mind, and consciousness 5.1 5.2
What is Mind — the “hard problem” . . . . . . . . . 28 What is mind — the “easy problem” — and do animals have it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 38 45 56
6 Conclusions References Index
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1
Introduction
Human beings are in many ways unusual animals, with some very peculiar adaptations. In most respects, however, the difference between us and other animals is a matter of degree only. Our species uses tools more than any other, but other species do use, and even make, tools1 . We may be the most intelligent animal on this planet, but chimps and dolphins aren’t totally devoid of intelligence either. We are the only species to run a global monetary economy, but trade and bartering are not unknown in the animal world (de Waal & Berger, 2000; Hyatt & Hopkins, 1998; de Waal, 1997). We have the most extensive body of social and cultural knowledge, but other species learn2 from each other as well (Nagell et al, 1993), and pass on cultural patterns (Vogel, 1998; Whitehead, 1998; Boesch & Boesch, 1990; Vogel, 1999), leading to distinct cultures in different populations of chimps (de Waal, 1999; Whiten et al, 1999; Whiten & Boesch, 2001), orangutans (van Schaik & Knott, 2001) and whales (Rendell & Whitehead, 2001). And so on... The more we learn about chimpanzees, the more kinship we can observe — and feel! (Goodall, 1998) There remains only one important area in which it can still be argued that we are unique, and that is our habitual use of language. No other species...