[MD] Step two

ARLO JAMES BENSINGER JR ajb102 at psu.edu
Fri Aug 22 09:54:07 PDT 2014


[Jan Anders]
So you think a cow can’t say no? Or that the bull doesn’t give a shit about her? Maybe if they are stalled and bound in a meat factory but not outside in the field.
You go to a farm, please. I have cows and bull(s) living just across the street. Self breeding stock.

[Arlo]
I am saying that the cows and bulls sexual behavior is strictly biologically. Sure, there are biological 'responses' to the bull, but they are not socially-mediated. If you are having trouble de-anthropomorphising cows, think about the horseshoe crab instead. 

And please keep in mind that Tomasello's notion of "shared attention" (or, now, "shared intentionality") is a very specific construct, and should not be confused with any time two biological patterns are interacting. For instance, it emerges off the very specific (mutual) recognition of the 'other' as a similarly autonomous agent acting with the same attentional behavior.

Here is an article you might enjoy that attempts to clarify the varieties of 'gaze' behaviors among humans and animals. It is not Tomasello-centric, but refers to his work. "Gaze Following and Joint Visual Attention in Nonhuman Animals" (Itakura, Kyoto University, http://www.psy.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/COE21/report/H15/9D-2.pdf).


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