tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751096080801562755.post2163899392610393072..comments2024-01-10T07:02:02.377-08:00Comments on SpiderMonkeyTales: In Defense of AnthropomorphismMichelle Rodrigueshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06525298555847611412noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751096080801562755.post-72395380779396899952018-02-18T13:44:33.789-08:002018-02-18T13:44:33.789-08:00"Clearly, I'm coming down on the side of ..."Clearly, I'm coming down on the side of advocating anthropocentrism rather than anthropocentrism. Nonetheless, this does not mean that I advocate careless anthropocentrism. Rather, I believe we should use reasoned anthropocentrism in interpretating primate behavior (as well as other animal's behavior)."<br /><br />You're advocating anthropomorphism, not anthropocentrism, right? Just checking ;-) <br />Great post in any case!Dance Vatekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06443704989855121431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751096080801562755.post-30085618021527517472010-08-31T14:52:39.352-07:002010-08-31T14:52:39.352-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Viagra Onlinehttp://www.safemeds.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751096080801562755.post-49105096814265079012009-11-12T06:43:24.336-08:002009-11-12T06:43:24.336-08:00Hey, good piece. But are you sure Descarte and Jew...Hey, good piece. But are you sure Descarte and Jewish scripture are really to blame? It seems to me that modern materialism is the culprit, the most extreme forms of which deny that even humans have internal "intentions" and "motivations". It also seems like the religion of Japan has less to do with the research you mention than the fact that there are wild monkeys in Japan, so people have always had an opportunity to observe them in a non-scientific setting. It is not so much that the Jewish Bible views man as special for his knowledge of good and evil, but that modern materialism views both man and beast as having internal mental states only inasmuch as they can be "reduced" to physical states. In other words, any inference of an internal mental state presents a problem to be "reduced" to the physical. Internal mental states become even more problematic if they are not confined to man but spread out all over the animal world. And of course, they pose ethical problems for animal research.<br /><br />Also, I have observed that anthropomorphism seems to always go hand in hand with ethnomorphism and genomorphism. Originally the literature seemed andromorphic, but now that so many women are studying primates, it seems gynomorphic. For example, you say, "I have an obligation to share the beauty of their complex social world, including relationships, emotions, triumphs, and tragedies . . ." It sounds like the way a modern western woman sees her world. Just a thought.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751096080801562755.post-71061484132895070102009-11-04T15:26:28.189-08:002009-11-04T15:26:28.189-08:00that's a really good point--it seems there so ...that's a really good point--it seems there so much denial of animal "feelings" sometimes because we humans focus so much on the reflection and identification of this feeling rather than the actually experience of feeling.<br /><br />How much of our experience of feelings actually comes from self-reflection and identification of feelings? I do think it is an important aspect of human emotions, but I don't think the lack of self-reflection would take away from the experience of the emotion...Michelle Rodrigueshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06525298555847611412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751096080801562755.post-86700370352108658512009-11-03T14:05:32.876-08:002009-11-03T14:05:32.876-08:00Taking this down to the neuroendocrine level, mamm...Taking this down to the neuroendocrine level, mammals share so many neurochemicals and hormones. If oxytocin induces a state of calm in both rabbits and humans, if it promotes nursing and licking (or kissing) in both rats and humans, if it bonds a male and female prairie vole as it does human mates, what is the difference between the physiological states, i.e. the feeling, of rat and human? Maybe the difference is no more than that humans can name this feeling. <br /><br />Thanks for the very thoughtful and insightful post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com