Anthropomorphism in human-animal interactions: a pragmatist view

[en] This paper explores anthropomorphism in human–animal interactions from the theoretical perspectives of pragmatism and anthropology of human–animal communication. Its aim is to challenge the conception of anthropomorphism as the attribution/inference of human properties to a non-human animal – particularly as a special case of the theory of mind. The author’s goal is to articulate a plausible an alternative conception of anthropomorphism as a situated direct perception of human properties by someone who is engaged in a given situation and sensitive to what the animal is doing to them. Rooted in pragmatist theory as well as in contemporary anthropological studies, this paper offers an original perspective for in depth ethnographic and empirical studies of anthropomorphism-in-situation. Such studies could bring new insights in the study of how ordinary people make sense of animal behaviors in real-life situations.

Disciplines :

Theoretical & cognitive psychology

Author, co-author :

Servais, Véronique ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Anthropologie de la communication

Language :

English

Title :

Anthropomorphism in human-animal interactions: a pragmatist view

Alternative titles :

[fr] L'anthropomorphisme dans les interactions homme-animal: un point de vue pragmatique

Publication date :

18 December 2018

Journal title :

Frontiers in Psychology

eISSN :

1664-1078

Publisher :

Frontiers Media S.A., Switzerland

Special issue title :

The cognitive underpinning of anthropomorphism

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02590/full

Available on ORBi :

since 12 June 2018

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Bibliography

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