Self-study
Passage A.
P1
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Intro topic ·
Function of language
One purpose is to influence others' behavior.
P2
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Contrast ·
Animal vocalizations vs. human language
Animal communication is inadvertent, unlike human language. Animals (except chimps) can't attribute mental states to other animals.
Example ·
Communication by one frog
No evidence that the frog attributes knowledge or desire to other frogs.
Additional contrast ·
Animal vocalizations vs. human language
Primates (besides humans) don't communicate in response to thinking that another primate needs info.
Example ·
Macaques and chimps
No evidence they are more likely to communicate about things when their fellow primates are clearly unaware of those things.
Main point ·
Many animal vocalizations aren't as intentional as they seem
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P3
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Scientists' perspective ·
Animal communication isn't intentional, whereas human language is
This is a recap of Passage A's perspective.
P4
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Scientists' perspective ·
Animals can't lie
Lying requires intention to deceive, and it's widely thought that animals don't have conscious intention.
Example ·
Bee's "waggle-dance"
Bees communicate direction of food sources, but one philosopher thinks this is just a reflex; bees don't intend to communicate anything.
P5
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Author's critique ·
Assumption that animals can't intend things might be wrong
Passage Style
17.
Which one of the following ██████████ ████ ███████ █ ████████ ███████ ███
a
One function of ████████ ██ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ████████ ████ ████ ██████
This doesn’t help suggest that animal communication is just a conditioned reflex.
b
Animal vocalizations may ████ ███████ ███████ ████ ████ ███ █████████ ██ █████ ██████████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ████████
This doesn’t help suggest that animal communication is just a conditioned reflex. The fact that vocalizations can alter listeners’ behavior doesn’t suggest that the animals who make the vocalizations don’t have conscious intention.
c
It is possible ████ ███████████ ███ ████ ███ ████████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██████ ██ ███████
This doesn’t help suggest that animal communication is just a conditioned reflex. If anything, it undermines this claim by suggesting the potential for conscious intention in some animal communication.
d
There is no ████████ ████ ███ ████ ███████████ ████ █████ ███████ ██ █████ ████ ███ █████ ████ ██████ ███ █████████ ██ █████ ██████
This is the best answer. (D) shows that with respect to certain animals, there’s no evidence that their communication is a result of intention to affect the knowledge of other frogs. This lends a tiny amount of support to Maritain’s view that bees’ communication doesn’t involve an intent to affect the knowledge of other bees. Although (D) doesn’t provide strong evidence supporting Maritain’s claim, it’s the only answer that provides any support at all.
e
Macaques give alarm █████ ████ █████████ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ████ ███████ █████
This doesn’t help suggest that animal communication is just a conditioned reflex. (E) doesn’t suggest anything about the macaques’ lack of intention behind their alarm calls. Although Passage A does mention that experiments revealed evidence the macaques didn’t have any conscious intention behind their communication, that information isn’t part of (E). We’re evaluating the assertion in (E) and whether that assertion supports Maritain’s view. We’re not asked about the other information Author A provides related to the assertion in (E).