THE PRAYING ANIMAL

Abstract. Ritual cannot be interpreted by a root metaphor of evolution, without reducing ritual's necessary intention. We must rather understand ritual as humanizing revolution. We have therefore two questions. First, What part does ritual have in human reckoning with reality? Second, What part does ritual have in the step to the specifically human? To the first question, the answer is proposed: ritual is that embodiment of our discourse with God and one another, by which we are made available and vulnerable to reality. To the second question, the answer is proposed: as embodied prayer, ritual is the complement to that address of God which posits our ontologically specific humanity, Parodying Aristotle, we may say that we are the sacrificing animals.     

动物心理的演化

动物心理以及动物心理演化的研究,不仅有实践上的意义——特別在农业生产上的意义,而且在理論上也有重大的意义。它对于解答人类意識起源、理解能思維的人脑的发展、論証物貭第一性、心理第二性以及辯証法諸問題上都能提供可貴的有力的証据,因此它在馬克思列宁主义經典著作中得到了应有的重视。     

HUMAN MODELS OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

Abstract— Similarities between the behavior of humans and other animals in analogous tasks suggest that similar cognitive processes are involved. Human studies provide an efficient way to collect data with low variability, and animal studies provide a way to collect a large amount of data under controlled conditions, study a wide range of manipulations, limit the range of plausible explanations, and develop explanations in terms of brain mechanisms. Examples are taken from studies of liming that used similar procedures for humans and other animals.     

DIRECTED ACTION AND ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

Human action theory, with its emphasis on intentions and reasons, does little to enhance our understanding of the actions of nonhuman animals. Many animal (and human) actions are directed to objects in the world, including other animals. The notion of directedness can be analysed without attributing intentions or reasons to the agent. An action is directed to object X if and only if: (1) the agent singles out X, either by orientation or by selective performance of the action in the presence of X; (2) the agent recognizes X as a suitable object; and (3) the goal of the action is that X should be in a certain relation to the agent or to some other object. The goal of an action is not necessarily attributable to the agent as the agent's goal in acting. Moreover, an agent can have a goal in acting without understanding how the action achieves the goal. The usefulness of the concept of directed action in the study of animal communication is illustrated with examples from the recent ethological literature.     

THE CONFESSING ANIMAL IN FOUCAULT AND WITTGENSTEIN

In The History of Sexuality, Foucault maintains that “Western man has become a confessing animal” (1990, 59), thus implying that “man” was not always such a creature. On a related point, Wittgenstein suggests that “man is a ceremonial animal” (1996, 67); here the suggestion is that human beings are, by their very nature, ritualistically inclined. In this paper I examine this crucial difference in emphasis, first by reconstructing Foucault's “genealogy” of confession, and subsequently by exploring relevant facets of Wittgenstein's later thinking. While there are significant correlations between Foucault and Wittgenstein, an important disparity emerges in relation to the question of the “natural.” By critically analyzing this, I show how Wittgenstein's minimal naturalism provides an important corrective to Foucault's more extravagant claims. By implication, we see why any radical relativist, historicist, and/or constructivist position becomes untenable on Wittgensteinian grounds, even though Wittgenstein himself is often read as promoting such views.     

6-羟基多巴胺所致旋转行为的动物模型

选用神经毒素(6-OHDA)造成动物大脑黑质纹状体的单侧性损伤,致使动物的大脑两半球机能显示不对称性。致伤后以可卡因诱发动物的旋转行为。 本实验共观察了成年的Holtzman种系雌性大白鼠43只。结果表明,有38例(88.37％)的多巴胺的耗竭率在85一100％,它们的伤情较为理想。但是,3只动物(6.98％)的多巴胺的耗竭率小于60％,2只动物(4.65％)的多巴胺的耗竭率在60—84％。 本文详细地介绍了如何制备和利用旋转仪自动记录动物的旋转行为,以及用高效液相色谱法测定大脑纹状体内多巴胺的含量。