Minding Dogs: Humans, Canine Companions, and a New Philosophy of Cognitive Science by Michele Merritt

Author:Michele Merritt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The University of Georgia Press
Published: 2021-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

How Humans and Other Animals Play

Play occupies the pages of countless articles and books authored by psychologists, linguists, and educators. While I will not delve too deeply into the many multidisciplinary approaches to and reasons for studying play, it is worth noting that while numerous disciplines have continued to emphasize the crucial role of play in the development of such skills as language and pro-social attitudes, philosophers have remained relatively silent about play. This is not to say that disquisitions on the subject are nonexistent, but for the most part, what philosophers mean by “play” is often quite different from what psychologists mean. Wittgenstein ([1953] 2009) famously problematized play by asking how best to ontologically classify a game, and ever since then, philosophers have been grappling with defining and cataloging what constitutes play, games, sport, and the like. These are important issues, and I do not mean in any way to diminish the metaphysical work being done by thinkers taking on the task, but for our purposes, it’s not important to develop a precising definition of a concept whose denotation is wide ranging and probably vague or “fuzzy.” Indeed, as I argued regarding what constitutes mindreading, I contend that play also occurs on a spectrum and to focus too much on the game-theoretical aspects of it, for instance, is likely going to cause us to overlook the ways in which nonhuman animals might engage in play as well.

It is interesting to note that Plato had quite a bit to say regarding play, and much of it mirrors what psychologists today tend to think about the function of play. In the Laws, book 1, he says: “When children are brought together, they discover more or less spontaneously the games which come naturally to them at that age” (1997, 794a). Plato urged, however, that this “free play” will actually help satisfy certain educational goals—kids will learn important features of farming, trading, manufacturing, and so forth, while playing with others. In the Republic he says, “Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play” (536e–537a), further emphasizing that it is play that will allow children to achieve educational ends, not forced study. This “radical” notion that play is necessary for innovation and development of ideas would not be resurrected until hundreds of years later, and it is now seen in debates about school recess, inclusion of the arts in public education, and similar issues, where many argue, like Plato, that play is just as important for learning as formal instruction, if not more so. Part of why Plato’s ideas took so long to resurface was likely Aristotle’s placing play squarely in opposition to work. “Leisure,” Aristotle argued, was what allowed for educational insights, not play. Play was simply, according to book 8 of his Politics, a break from work: “We should ask what activity real leisure consists of. It’s certainly not playing. That would mean play was the be-all and end-all of life, which is out of the question. The

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