Animals are People, Too

By Nick Gier, Unfiltered 4-01-09

ANIMALS ARE PEOPLE, TOO:
OVERCOMING THE MYTH OF HUMAN UNIQUENESS

By Nick Gier

In his book "On the Soul" the Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed that there were three types of souls, and the human fetus evolves organically from one to the next.

During the first trimester the fetus is a "nutritive" soul, a life principle that we share with animals and plants. After three months the fetus develops a "sensitive" soul: it now has the capacity, unlike plants, to move and to perceive.

After six months the human fetus adds a "rational" soul on top of its nutritive-sensitive base. (Explosive fetal brain development from 25-33 weeks confirms Aristotle's speculation on this essential point.) This is a faculty that humans share only with God, and this makes them superior to all the other beings on earth. Only God and humans can be called persons; and only they can be moral and spiritual beings.

For nearly 2,400 years this view of human uniqueness has dominated Judeo-Christian religion, morality, and law. Aristotle's influence is seen in St. Augustine's view that the abortion of a first trimester fetus was not murder, and Thomas Aquinas' belief that the fetus did not become a person until late in pregnancy. Canon law on this essential point was not changed until 1917. But many cracks have begun to appear in the hard shell that has enveloped the claim of human uniqueness.

At the Dolphin Institute in Hawaii, Louis Herman has taught his four dolphins to understand sign language. One day Herman asked two of them to make up a new trick on their own. The two dolphins dove and within seconds exploded out of the water, circling on their tails, and spouting water like synchronized fountains.

Dozens of unemployed Asian logging elephants now have second career as painters. Most of the paintings are abstract, but trainers have taught them to depict natural scenes as well. Most amazingly, some have actually done self-portraits.

The mental and emotional achievements of our primate cousins are well known and so impressive that the Chimpanzee Collaboratory has formed to promote chimp personhood. In addition to learning sign language (including making up new words) and teaching it to their young, chimps have been observed making tools and using herbal medicines. In a fairly simple computer memory game, a chimp, seemingly without much concentration, can remember all nine numbers in a random sequence while the sharpest human subjects remember only one or two.

If Aristotle were come back for a visit today, he would advisedly make an amendment to his theory: chimps, gorillas, dolphins, and whales are persons and as such have a serious moral right to life. But this may still be a case of big brain species chauvinism, and Irene Pepperberg's African Grey parrot Alex is the key witness.

Alex of course had the proverbial bird brain--the size of a shelled walnut--but over 31 years Pepperberg carefully documented Alex's amazingly rich mental and emotional life. Under strict laboratory conditions Alex, when asked to combine seven colors, five shapes, and four materials, could identify 80 different objects.

Just like Washoe the Chimp, who called ducks "water birds," Alex made up "yummy bread" for cake. Because one needs lips to say a "p," Alex improvised for an apple calling it "banerry," a combination of banana and cherry. While in the laboratory with other parrots, he was constantly criticizing the others for their poor pronunciation, repeatedly saying "speak more clearly!"

Emotionally, Alex would respond to Pepperberg, not repetitively or arbitrarily, but specifically and appropriately, such as "What's your problem?" and "I'm going to go away now." His last words to the love of his life were "You be good, I love you."

A recent experiment with dogs did not require language for scientists to conclude that they had a sense of fairness. At the Clever Dog Lab at the University of Vienna, scientists placed two dogs side by side and commanded them to offer a paw. Initially, one received a piece of sausage for the correct response, and the other got a piece of bread. When the reward was withdrawn from one dog, she not only stopped offering her paw, but turned away from the scientist in disgust.

As opposed chimps placed in the same circumstances, the Austrian dogs did not perceive the vegetarian option as a slight. Primatologist Frans de Waal has also found that a capuchin monkey refused to trade pebbles for pieces of cucumber when his companion was given a grape instead for the same task.

In 1992 while on sabbatical in India I gave up eating beef, pork, and chicken. My decision was based primarily on a choice of a healthier diet rather than any strong belief in animal rights. This new evidence for animal personhood should force all of us to rethink what is now become the Myth of Human Uniqueness.

Nick Gier taught philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31 years. Read or listen to all his other columns at .

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