A Translation of Luigi Paolucci's «On Birdsong»: Phenomenology, Animal Psychology and Biology

ISBN-13: 9781433141065 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 212 str.

Paolo Palmieri

Opis

This book is the first English translation of a ground-breaking memoir on birdsong by the Italian naturalist Luigi Paolucci. It is accompanied by extensive annotations and introductory essay by the translator, Paolo Palmieri, that examines the scientific and philosophical questions raised by birdsong in relation to the history and philosophy of science, phenomenology, and the theoretical problems of the demarcation of the human and non-human animal. Paolucci's memoir focuses on first hand ecological research and offers a fundamental theory of birdsong as language and music. Paolucci studies songbird species and behavior by bringing to bear linguistics, music and sound theory, and the debate on evolutionary theory and animal cognition. In the interlocutory essay, Paolo Palmieri adopts a phenomenological approach in order to investigate the problem of animal suffering and ethics, animal reasoning and will, the neurophysiology of hearing in humans and birds, and the relation between birdsong and laughter. This book will appeal to a large audience of philosophers, post-humanists, historians of science, animal cognition theorists, birdsong scientists and naturalists, and students. The book will also be valuable to the general public who is interested in the ethical debates on the presence of non-human animals in our society.

Spis treści

Figures - Preface - Acknowledgments - Note on Translation - Introduction: The Human/Animal - On Birdsong: An Essay on Animal Physiology and Biology in Relation to Sexual Selection and the Struggle for Existence by Luigi Paolucci - Part One: Comparative Phenomenology of Birdsong - On Natural Language - The Mechanism of Sound in Autophonous Animals - The Mechanism of Sound in Heterophonous Animals - The Fundamental Sounds of Birdsong - Musical Representation of Birdsong - Part Two: Patterns of Psychic Expression in Birdsong - Intelligence and Communication in Birdsong - Diversity in Birdsong according to Age and Sex - Biological Purposes of Birdsong - Adult Birdsong in Both Sexes - Imitation Voices - Conclusion: Phonetic Corruption and Regeneration in Birdsong - Index.

O autorze

Paolo Palmieri is a philosopher and historian of science. He received his Ph.D. from the University of London and currently teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on early modern science, phenomenology, the philosophy of hearing in humans, pedagogy, and learning. He has published a number of scholarly articles and books.