The New Anthropomorphism

By John S. Kennedy

Book Overview

In this 1992 book, John Kennedy's point is that explicit anthropomorphism was well-nigh killed by fierce criticism from the radical Behaviourists, but that we have to recognize that today there is a new anthropomorphism which is much harder to avoid because it is unintended and largely unconscious. For that reason even those who if they were asked would firmly reject anthropomorphism nevertheless unwittingly slip into it from time to time. This book contains nineteen essays on behavioural concepts which have seldom been identified as anthropomorphic but in fact bear that connotation and lead to mistakes. Some of these, such as search images in birds and the learning of grammatical language by apes, have been seen through as errors after a time. A greater number, such as efference copy, goal-directedness, cognition and suffering in animals, are still current though not yet regarded as erroneous. The final chapter outlines things we can do to minimise the damage it does to the causal analysis of animal behaviour.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521410649
• ISBN13: 9780521410649
• Release Date: July 1992
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

a must read for behavioral neuroscientists

Kennedy does a good job of explaining the evolution of anthropomorhism, and shares his opinions in an objective manner. With a hint of humor, he makes the book very readable, and gives much food for thought. This was "leant" to me by a colleague and I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Anyone who uses animal models to investigate behavior needs to be reminded that we have no proof that animals feel depression, etc, though we have a natural tendancy to perceive animal behaviors as indicative of emotions that we feel.