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58 CHAPTER FOUR Birdsong f IN CHAPTER 2 HARTSHORNE’S MODEL for aesthetic value was introduced ; it was alleged to apply in a nonanthropocentric way. Eventually I will show in detail how it applies in the divine case; here I would like to show how it applies in a subhuman one. Both the aesthetic attitude discussed in Chapter 3 and the theme of beauty as a dual mean are exemplified in an extremely interesting way in the songs of birds. The most notable skeptics of Hartshorne’s claims made in regard to the songs of birds are behaviorists, who urge that birdsong is programmed into birds to enable them to defend territory and to mate. What the behaviorist view leaves unexplained, however, is () how the bird experiences its territorial song and (2) why it sings when territory is not threatened and when mating season is over. It should be noted that bird “cries” are primeval and unlearned, as in the alarm notes that are presumably the oldest forms of bird utterance; bird “songs,” by way of contrast, are at least partially learned, either through imitation or practice, and are more musical than cries. The point here is not to challenge the principle of parsimony, whereby a simpler explanation is to be preferred if it has the same explanatory power as a complex one. On the basis of this principle in ethology, the science of animal behavior, a higher function should be attributed to an animal only if a lower, more primitive function will not do the job. In the case of birdsong, the behaviorist alleges, as we will see later in the chapter, the territorial and mating functions explain the phenomenon simpliciter (BS, xi, , ; WS, 33–40). Behaviorism is, in fact, a plausible form of intellectual parsimony, but as in the case of the aesthetic sensibilities of human beings, it does not adequately explain the phenomena associated with birdsong, acDombrowskiFinalPgs . 58 2/2/04 5:34:25 PM Birdsong 59 cording to Hartshorne. If one assumes that aesthetic value concerns only the subordinate refinements of human life, and not essential principles, one might be led to assume the same regarding birdsong. It is precisely this assumption, however, that Hartshorne challenges. It is questionable to claim that we can understand either ourselves or birds without having recourse to the view that conscious beings flee the evils associated with both extreme monotony and discord. Animal curiosity, at the very least, should lead us to consider broadly aesthetic criteria of unity and contrast. If the aesthetic sensibilities of animals are not on a par with those of humans, it does not mean that they are not aesthetic. In some cases the aesthetic sensibilities of animals actually surpass ours, as in animals, such as dogs, whose sense of smell far surpasses our own (BS, –2). It makes sense to urge caution regarding the attribution of anthropomorphic tendencies to birds, but to say they have aesthetic feelings is not to say they have aesthetic thoughts; hence this caution is not violated in Hartshorne’s view. From an evolutionary point of view, one assumes that birdsong favors reproductive success. But it does not follow that this behaviorist or evolutionary account exhausts the facts. It should be obvious in the human case, at least, that sexual behavior is not only a mode of acting in an evolutionary context but also a mode of feeling. If the evolutionary functions of birdsong involve territoriality and mating, this tells us little about the emotive impact of the song on the singer. Perhaps it is because birds enjoy singing that they have propagated their kind, Hartshorne hypothesizes. Or perhaps it is because birds like their territory that they sing to defend it. Finally, when territory and mating seem irrelevant, perhaps birds find a simple joy in singing (BS, 2–3). If the function of Sousa marches is to inspire patriotism, it does not rule out the possibility that the musicians who play them actually enjoy the music. Even if the evolutionary causes of animal behavior lie deep in the past, birds and flutists live in the present with a sequence of emotions from moment to moment. In fairness to behaviorists it must be admitted that the tendency to sing is closely related to the presence of male hormones and is thus maximal at breeding season. But these physical factors might alter not only the behavior but also DombrowskiFinalPgs. 59 2/2/04 5:34:25 PM [18.117.196...

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