animals in M&D

[Joshua T]

Doug Millison notes

>There's a lively, ongoing discussion about what it means to attribute
>intelligence to animals, what specialists and other human observers can in
>fact know about animal consciousness, a discussion that quickly goes deep
>into philosophy, ethics, and debates about the limits of scientific theory
>and method.  A good starting point is a recent book, _Anthropomorphism,
>Anecdotes, and Animals_, Robert W. Mitchell (and others) ed.

>From the eighteenth century, we can add automata.  Here's T. H. Huxley a
1OO years later tracing lots of the questions back to Descartes:
http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/CE1/AnAuto.html

There's a mass of m-words following the dog's emergence in a "Murmur of
Expectancy" and a leap "out of the Murk" of "a dozen mirror'd Lanthorns"
(18), including "Magnetical Stupor," "Mesmerites," "Mutton Chop," "Mark,"
"Man," "Moment," "Metempsychosis" (19), "Medical Students," "miracle" (2O),
"Machinery," "Macaronis" (21), "Master," "'Mu'" (22, where "The L.E.D.
blinks"), and "Marvel" (23) (never mind "Mauve," 28).  Reminiscent of
LaMettrie's _L'homme machine_.  And Magick?  This site says there was
(1964?) a "conjuring" exhibit at the "new Smithsonian Museum of History and
Technology" with "a children's pottery drinking mug with a handle, from
Massachusetts, ca 18OO.  Near its top edge was the legend 'The Learned Dog'
and below that was an outline drawing of a dog pawing at alphabet cards
spread on the ground."  http://www.uelectric.com/pastimes/pot13.htm

Josh