Wittgenstein, Sheep Thieves, and the Dog Who Knew 1,000 Words

Ludwig Wittgenstein begins the Philosophical Investigations by quoting St. Augustine’s description of how he had learned to speak, where adults would point out objects and give them names, so that Augustine “grasped that the thing was signified by the sound they uttered.” This is, Wittgenstein says, “the idea of a language more primitive than ours.” He explains how this language would work: “Let us imagine a language for which the description given...

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Secretary of the Army Affirms Outsourcing of Service Dog Qualification

Let us start with an analogy that will bring this home to lawyers.  I graduated from Hastings College of the Law, an accredited law school that permitted me to take the bar examination in New York State.  I passed and was admitted to the bar.  Now suppose that New York State decides that it is too expensive to maintain a court administration system that involves employing bar examiners, renting space to conduct exams, hiring proctors,...

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Dying in the Cargo Hold: Is There an Acceptable Level of Loss in Animal Air Transport?

Additional Note. On October 28, 2013, the Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released a letter to Delta Air Lines imposing a fine of $68,286 for 22 violations of the Animal Welfare Act in the transportation of pets.  A bulldog on a flight from Tokyo to San Francisco died, most probably from heat stroke and/or a lack of oxygen. Another situation was described as follows:"Delta failed to handle a two-year...

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