A Pragmatist Explanation of Technical Capabilities in Nonhuman Animals

Bibliographic Data

ID13001819
AuthorsAna Cuevas Badallo (0000-0001-8080-4233, Universidad de Salamanca, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume13
Issue1
Publication date2021-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2036-4091 • E-ISSN: 2036-4091
PublisherAssociazione Pragma (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.4000/ejpap.2324
OpenAlexW3141477992
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited58

Human technological capabilities have been analyzed as a distinctive feature of the species. However, recent discoveries in the field of ethology show that other species besides humans are also able to use and make tools. Ihde and Malafouris (2019) have suggested analyzing nonhuman animals’ technical capabilities using an enactivist framework, as they do for humans. This paper explores a pragmatist approach, combining gradual evolutionary continuity with enactivism. I will characterize nonhuman animals’ technical capacities using John Dewey’s notions of experience, problematic situation, accommodation, adaptation, and inquiry. The technical capabilities of nonhuman animals are better explained in a non-dichotomic fashion, avoiding anthropocentric explanations

Adaptation (eye · Anthropocentrism · Biology · Cognitive science · Enactivism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ethology · Field (mathematics · Pragmatism · Sociology · Child and Animal Learning Development · Embodied and Extended Cognition · Mathematics · Neuroscience · Philosophy · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Psychology · Ecology

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