Jak to jest być nietoperzem? Refleksje przy lekturze eseju Thomasa Nagela

• Authors: Dobrosława Wężowicz-Ziółkowska

Title variants

EN

What Is It Like to Be a Bat? Reflections upon the Reading of Thomas Nagel’s Essay

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The article asks questions about the human cognitive abilities – how it is to be an animal of a species different from one’s own. Using as a basis the doubts of the philosopher Thomas Nagel, the author proceeds to discuss the standpoint of  ethnologists Frans de Waal and Konrad Lorenz, who accept the limitations of the human cognitive apparatus and language, with the help of which we describe what we call the “animal.” The author suggests that the problem of contemporary humanities and animal studies lies not  in anthropodenial, but in anthropomorphism, rooted in the centrism typicalof our species, which seems impossible to overcome. The author also proposes a thesis that the wayto overcome this issue is for people to gain knowledge about these limitations. This knowledge, supported by interspeciesempathy, developed in the process of coevolution of animal species (humans being one of them), is the most effective tool of heuristics.

Keywords

EN

Nagel,; bat,; anthropodenial,; anthropomorphism,; language,; cognition

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
• Journal: Zoophilologica. Polish Journal of Animal Studies
• Year: 2015
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 83-94

Dates

published

2015-12-24

Contributors

author

Dobrosława Wężowicz-Ziółkowska