Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Experiment: artificial bringing about of an event or artificial creation of a state for testing a hypothesis. Experiments can lead to the reformulation of the initial hypotheses and the reformulation of theories. See also theories, measuring, science, hypotheses, Bayesianism, confirmation, events, paradigm change, reference systems._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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John Dupré on Experiments - Dictionary of Arguments
Perler I 298 Experiment/Research/Language/Animal/Interpretation/Dupré: it is disputed whether the monkeys A) are only simply conditioned a la skinner, so that they produce desired results. That is, the monkey does essentially the same as the rat which is pushing a lever. ((s): This could just as well be interpreted as symbol use?). That is, it is claimed that the monkey does not know that a character (used by him) means e.g. "Banana". Then the sign "Give me a banana" would be the same as shaking the tree, so that some fall down. B) Actual use of symbols. This does not have to mean yet that the monkeys have all the abilities that we have in this context. >Animals, >Animal language. I 299 E.g., monkeys can learn to produce utterances that are suitable for different foods. But they do not seem to be able to answer when they are to sort out these objects! A similar separation of production and reception has been established in children. However, this is just the exception, most monkeys can very well generalize. For example, a gorilla from Patterson can supposedly report from the past and utter threats as well as insults: e.g. death: "Pleasant, Heia, Nest" "When gorillas die?" "Problem old". Dupré: these are certainly more than conditioned reflexes. >Conditioning. I 300 Experiment/Research/Language/Animal/Interpretation/Dupré: A) sign language: Gardners, Terrace, Patterson, Fouts: Level of communication as high as possible. Communicative intention exceeds "literal" interpretation. B) Artificial Languages: Premack, Rumbaugh: Possibility to gain clean data has priority. Possible behavior is narrowly limited. Therefore there are only a few characters. >Gestures. Dupré: this dichotomy is actually a caricature: for the representatives of b), on the one hand, criticize the affective connections, and grant particular importance to spontaneous utterances. On the other hand, the representatives of a) are strict with the tests. I 308 Double blind test: even the observer does not know the correct answer. I 309 Dupré: but also here the desired answer can be suggested, if the blind observer wants to figure out what the animal "means". Method/Ockham's razor/animal/experiment/Dupré: commitment to economical explanation: curtails the allegations of the monkey researchers allegedly in two directions: 1. If there is a channel through which the observer might have given the monkey a correct answer,... I 310 ...then we assume that the assumption that exactly this happened is more economical than the one that the monkey has shown an ability. 2. Ockham's razor is mostly directed against the assumption of creative linguistic usage in monkeys. Adoption of an error is more economical. I 311 DupréVsOckham: Economy is hardly an objective, theory-independent concept. Why is it more economical to adopt a complex and hidden communication channel than to assume that the monkey knows what it is doing? "Kluger Hans"/Dupré: also shows that there is a high degree of communication between humans and animals. ((s) This can also be called "sign use", if the animal obviously understands it correctly.) I 312 Typically occurs in activities where there are correct or incorrect answers. N.B.: these are, ironically, precisely the experiments that are supposed to provide unique data. But if the monkey produces new, unexpected utterances, then the criticism cannot work. Ironically, it is precisely the stereotypical reactions that are suspected of being manipulated. >Stereotypes, >Manipulation. I 313 Method/primate research/Dupré: perhaps these standards of animal research are just not appropriate. John Dupré, 1991. "Conversation with Apes. Reflections on the Scientific Study of language". In: Investigating Psychology, Science of Mind after Wittgenstein, J. Hyman (ed.) London, New York: Routledge_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Dupré I John Dupré "Conversations with Apes. Reflections on the Scientific Study of Language", in: Investigating Psychology. Sciences of the Mind after Wittgenstein, J. Hyman (Ed) London/New York 1991, pp. 95-116 In Der Geist der Tiere, D Perler/M. Wild, Frankfurt/M. 2005 Perler I Dominik Perler Markus Wild Der Geist der Tiere Frankfurt 2005 |
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> Counter arguments against Dupré
> Counter arguments in relation to Experiments
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-20