Introduction

On a number of occasions, Brandom introduces his particular conception of mind and language with the following question:

In so doing, he forces the reader to focus on a purported discontinuity between the abilities of human adults and of parrots. Despite the similarity in the given descriptions of the behaviours, the vocal responses of the human adult and parrot reporter differ, as only the former understands her response. As a result of this difference, the human report is not only a vocal response, but also a verbal one.

Although this starting point may seem chauvinistic in the extreme, the intention is not to catalogue purported deficiencies designed to elevate the status of man over beast. Rather the aim is to understand the criteria implicit in the performances that we, sapient beings, use in demarcating those whom we treat in practice as “we”, shared members of the community of sapient beings. Without doubt, this demarcational starting point forces attention on our own case, but such reflection is not anthropocentric per se, and not all self-regard need be dismissed as excessive.

The difference between human talk and parrot talk also provides the starting point for John Locke's celebrated discussion of language at the beginning of Book III of his An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (henceforth E – Locke 1689/1915).