Taking Play Seriously Beyond the Human Practices: Normativity and Social Play in Animals
Traditional philosophy has characterized the phenomenon of normativity, i.e., the ability to act according to norms, as an exclusive capacity of human beings. In contrast, this tradition has considered the behavior of non-human animals to be mere responses to the environment, relegating their activi...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | spa |
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Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad
2024
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| Online Access: | https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/42247 |
| _version_ | 1808110875160084480 |
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| author | Sanchez, María Ayelén Regues, Juana |
| author_facet | Sanchez, María Ayelén Regues, Juana |
| author_sort | Sanchez, María Ayelén |
| collection | Portal de Revistas |
| description | Traditional philosophy has characterized the phenomenon of normativity, i.e., the ability to act according to norms, as an exclusive capacity of human beings. In contrast, this tradition has considered the behavior of non-human animals to be mere responses to the environment, relegating their activity to the realm of instinct and survival. However, advances made since the 20th century in the field of ethology allow us to question this characterization. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the existence of normative aspects present in a type of behavior observed in various species: social play. We will undertake a conceptual analysis and a critical review of the philosophical literature and the results reported by empirical evidence regarding social play. Building upon a reconstruction of the concept of "practice" developed by Rawls (1955), we will attempt to show that social play exhibits normative characteristics that allow us to extend the notion of practice beyond our own species. Our main argument runs as follows: (1) every practice necessarily involves normativity; (2) social play in animals exhibits certain structural characteristics that make it relevant to describe it as a type of practice; and, therefore, (3) the thesis that certain species of non-human animals exhibit normative behavior is, at the very least, plausible and deserves to be seriously considered. |
| format | Online |
| id | oai:ojs.revistas.unc.edu.ar:article-42247 |
| institution | Universidad Nacional de Cordoba |
| language | spa |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | oai:ojs.revistas.unc.edu.ar:article-422472024-07-20T00:53:15Z Taking Play Seriously Beyond the Human Practices: Normativity and Social Play in Animals Tomar el juego en serio más allá de las prácticas humanas: normatividad y juego social en animales Sanchez, María Ayelén Regues, Juana Normativity practices Rawls social play animals Normatividad prácticas Rawls juego social animales Traditional philosophy has characterized the phenomenon of normativity, i.e., the ability to act according to norms, as an exclusive capacity of human beings. In contrast, this tradition has considered the behavior of non-human animals to be mere responses to the environment, relegating their activity to the realm of instinct and survival. However, advances made since the 20th century in the field of ethology allow us to question this characterization. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the existence of normative aspects present in a type of behavior observed in various species: social play. We will undertake a conceptual analysis and a critical review of the philosophical literature and the results reported by empirical evidence regarding social play. Building upon a reconstruction of the concept of "practice" developed by Rawls (1955), we will attempt to show that social play exhibits normative characteristics that allow us to extend the notion of practice beyond our own species. Our main argument runs as follows: (1) every practice necessarily involves normativity; (2) social play in animals exhibits certain structural characteristics that make it relevant to describe it as a type of practice; and, therefore, (3) the thesis that certain species of non-human animals exhibit normative behavior is, at the very least, plausible and deserves to be seriously considered. La tradición filosófica ha caracterizado el fenómeno de la normatividad, esto es, la capacidad de actuar según normas, como una capacidad exclusiva del ser humano. En contraposición, dicha tradición ha considerado que el comportamiento de los animales no humanos se reduce a meras respuestas al entorno, relegando su actividad al ámbito del instinto y la supervivencia. Sin embargo, los avances realizados a partir del siglo XX en el campo de la etología permiten cuestionar esta caracterización. El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar la existencia de aspectos normativos presentes en un tipo de comportamiento observado en diversas especies: el juego social. Realizaremos un análisis conceptual y una revisión crítica de la literatura filosófica y de los resultados reportados por la evidencia empírica relativa al juego social. A partir de una reconstrucción del concepto de “práctica” desarrollado por Rawls (1955), intentaremos mostrar que el juego social presenta características normativas que nos habilitan a extender la noción de práctica más allá de nuestra propia especie. Nuestro principal argumento presenta la siguiente estructura: (1) toda práctica supone, necesariamente, normatividad; (2) el juego social en animales presenta ciertas características estructurales por las cuales resulta pertinente describirlo como un tipo de práctica; y, por lo tanto, (3) la tesis de que ciertas especies de animales no humanos exhiben un comportamiento normativo es, al menos, plausible y merece ser considerada seriamente. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad 2024-07-20 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Artículos revisados por pares application/pdf text/html https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/42247 Astrolabio; No. 33 (2024): July - December: Towards the End of Human Exceptionality: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Animal Question; 159-183 Astrolabio; Núm. 33 (2024): Julio - Diciembre: Hacia el fin de la excepcionalidad humana: miradas multidisciplinarias sobre la cuestión animal; 159-183 Astrolabio; n. 33 (2024): Julho a dezembro: Rumo ao fim da excepcionalidade humana: perspectivas multidisciplinares sobre a questão animal; 159-183 1668-7515 10.55441/1668.7515.n33 spa https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/42247/45787 https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/42247/45804 Derechos de autor 2024 María Ayelén Sanchez, Juana Regues https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Normativity practices Rawls social play animals Normatividad prácticas Rawls juego social animales Sanchez, María Ayelén Regues, Juana Taking Play Seriously Beyond the Human Practices: Normativity and Social Play in Animals |
| title | Taking Play Seriously Beyond the Human Practices: Normativity and Social Play in Animals |
| title_alt | Tomar el juego en serio más allá de las prácticas humanas: normatividad y juego social en animales |
| title_full | Taking Play Seriously Beyond the Human Practices: Normativity and Social Play in Animals |
| title_fullStr | Taking Play Seriously Beyond the Human Practices: Normativity and Social Play in Animals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Taking Play Seriously Beyond the Human Practices: Normativity and Social Play in Animals |
| title_short | Taking Play Seriously Beyond the Human Practices: Normativity and Social Play in Animals |
| title_sort | taking play seriously beyond the human practices normativity and social play in animals |
| topic | Normativity practices Rawls social play animals Normatividad prácticas Rawls juego social animales |
| topic_facet | Normativity practices Rawls social play animals Normatividad prácticas Rawls juego social animales |
| url | https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/42247 |
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