From: Rakesh Bhandari (bhandari@BERKELEY.EDU)
Date: Sat Nov 25 2006 - 00:17:31 EST
> On Fri, 24 Nov 2006, Rakesh Bhandari wrote: > >> Citing no sources, the moderator tells us that it dolphin rape >> has been observed. > > For example, Connor, R.C., Smolker, R.A, & Richards, A.F. 1992 Two levels of alliance formation among male bottlenose dolphins > (Tursiops sp.). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:987-990 > >> I consider this an assault on academic integrity... > > Please give us a break. > > Do note what you ellisped because it provides justification for my statement. I had written: "Citing no sources, the moderator tells us that it dolphin rape has been observed. The moderator seems unaware of the biological, philosophical and political difficulties in blithely making such a claim. http://web.mit.edu/anthropology/faculty_staff/helmreich/PDFs/sex_on_the_brain.pdf I consider this an assault on academic integrity, given the seriousness of the issue. It's also a travesty given that biologists, ethnologists and anthropologists who are sympathetic to Marxism most often play careful attention to these difficulties." Now that pleading for a break does not provide a reply to what Helmreich or I am saying. And I have not said that rape does not exist in non human animals. I have insisted that such a question be treated VERY carefully. What is meant by rape? For an act to be described as rape, must it have certain causes or functions or meanings? What is the relationship between theory and definition? Is human rape genetically determined as a reproductive strategy as 'rape' presumably is among scorpions and dolphins? How could that be established? I am astonished that you would want to be given a break on such questions. By the way, do you agree with the implication of Paul C's argument that since the passing on of written arguments is the key to human uniqueness, preliterate cultures must therefore be not yet fully human. Well all this is so appropriate in the week that Michael "Kramer" Richards outed himself. Rakesh Rakesh Allin Cottrell >
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