From R. Hartshorn
Southampton, Hampshire
Marian Stamp Dawkins reports that Daniel Dennett suggests that “talking is
not merely a means of knowing about other minds, but a prerequisite for
consciousness itself” (Review, 3 August, p 42).
Surely it is not suggested that human beings born both deaf and dumb have no
consciousness? If it is argued that various forms of sign language are
responsible for the development of consciousness in such situations, then isn’t
this the case elsewhere in the animal world?
If I pat my knee while sitting in an armchair, my cat will come and sit on my
lap, or not, according to its decision at that time.
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