Tool use as situated cognition.
Vaesen disregards a plausible alternative to his position, and so fails to offer a compelling argument for unique cognitive mechanisms. We suggest an ecological alternative, according to which divergent relationships between organism and environment, not exotic neuroanatomy, are responsible for unique cognitive capacities. This approach is pertinent to claims about primate cognition; and on this basis, we argue that Vaesen's inference from unique skills to unique mechanisms is unwarranted.
Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057, USA. ajb89@georgetown.edu
Andy
A
Blitzer
Bryce
B
Huebner
D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013672:Technology; D053001:Tool Use Behavior