Kanzi's Primal Language The Cultural Initiation of Primates into Language

by Segerdahl, Pär; Fields, William; Savage-Rumbaugh, Sue

• ISBN13: 9781403996046
• ISBN10: 1403996040
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-03
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work on the language capabilities of the bonobo Kanzi has intrigued the world because of its far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of the human language. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of the filmed language tests. It argues that while the tests prove that Kanzi has language, the even more remarkable manner in which he originally acquired it - spontaneously, in a culture shared with humans - calls for a re-thinking of language, emphasizing its primal cultural dimensions.

Author Biography

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is Professor of Biology and Psychology at Georgia State University, USA. William Fields is Research Scientist at the new Great Ape Trust of Iowa in Des Moines (GATI), USA. Par Segerdahl is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Bioethics at the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University in Sweden.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Kanzi Acquires Language in a Forest in Georgia	1	(26)
Culture in animals	1	(3)
Understanding the discoveries in terms of culture	4	(9)
Is the language Kanzi acquired the language we tested?	13	(3)
What did Kanzi acquire in acquiring language?	16	(4)
Language as intrinsic aspect of culture	20	(7)
Design Features of Language	27	(68)
Spontaneity	30	(3)
Boundlessness	33	(6)
Immanence	39	(4)
Cultural creativity and generality	43	(12)
Placement	55	(3)
Gestures and tools	58	(4)
Culture-sustained vocal speech and other media	62	(10)
Cultural unity	72	(6)
Non-arbitrariness	78	(2)
Reflexivity	80	(3)
Flexible interface of primate interactions	83	(4)
Moral and personal dimension	87	(8)
Ambiguous Human Culture	95	(64)
Philosophy and scientific specialization	95	(5)
Is Kanzi a real animal?	100	(9)
Is ape language research anthropocentric?	109	(8)
Is scepticism reluctance to acknowledge our primal culture?	117	(18)
Scepticism about human life	135	(3)
Coming to know Kanzi	138	(2)
Was Socrates the first cultural primatologist?	140	(7)
Did Nim speak?	147	(12)
What Does It Mean to Study Language?	159	(42)
A question of scientific relevance	159	(1)
Is a technical notion of language one notion or two?	159	(2)
The introvert character of Chomsky's notion of language	161	(3)
The avoidance of experiential friction in Chomsky's thinking	164	(3)
Real systems versus mere evidence	167	(5)
Performance or traditional grammar?	172	(4)
Chomsky's observations	176	(1)
Poverty of stimulus or abundance?	177	(3)
The scientific relevance of ordinary experience	180	(1)
The status of our notion of primal language	181	(2)
Do children steal language from adults?	183	(10)
Culture makes us pregnant with language	193	(3)
The creative and the critical aspect of the methodology	196	(5)
Summary: The Catalogue of Design Features	201	(10)
Appendix 1: The Apes	211	(4)
Appendix 2: The Keyboard	215	(4)
Notes	219	(6)
Bibliography	225	(8)
Index	233