Sharisse Kanet

The words we use do more than reflect existing worldviews; they aid in forming those views. In particular, pronouns have a significant impact on both the mindset of the speaker and the treatment of the target individual. Recent animal studies scholarship has identified humans’ tendency to refer to nonhuman animals with the pronoun “it” as problematic for a variety of reasons. This article intends to add to that literature in two ways. First, it will incorporate recent psychological research into the effect pronoun usage has on the speaker's view of the recipient. Second, it will suggest several underutilized directions for making impactful and widespread change.

We recommend the attitude of optimistic agnosticism toward animal mindreading: suspending acceptance until tests succeed in overcoming Povinelli's problem, and being optimistic about the feasibility of such tests. Fletcher and Carruthers argue for sufficient reasons to accept animal mindreading; we find their arguments unconvincing. Points they raise against the behavior-reading theory apply equally to mindreading theory, and their claims of greater parsimony are unfounded. Premature acceptance of mindreading could inhibit the search for innovative ways to overcome longstanding methodological problems. Optimistic agnosticism, in contrast, encourages the pursuit of approaches that can lead to important insights about animal social cognition