@article{Khurana2022, author = {Khurana, Thomas}, title = {Gattungswesen}, series = {Deutsche Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Philosophie : Zweimonatsschrift der internationalen philosophischen Forschung}, volume = {70}, journal = {Deutsche Zeitschrift f{\"u}r Philosophie : Zweimonatsschrift der internationalen philosophischen Forschung}, number = {3}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {0012-1045}, doi = {10.1515/dzph-2022-0023}, pages = {373 -- 399}, year = {2022}, abstract = {In which sense can human beings be conceived as social animals? To elucidate this question, the present paper (I) distinguishes the logical sociality of all living beings from the material sociality of social animals and the political sociality of self-conscious social animals. (II) The self-conscious political sociality that characterises the human genus-being requires a complex interplay of first and second person through which alone we can participate in our form of life and determine its content. (III) The human form of life thus constituted is characterised by a particularly open, and at the same time precarious, membership which involves specific forms of vulnerability and power. (IV) Against this background, forms of objective spirit are necessary which grant us a generalized recognition and relieve us from the contingency of each particular second-personal recognition, without abandoning the openness of the sociality of the human form of life. This double requirement has led to paradoxical institutions in modern society which strive to protect and ensure the sociality of the human form of life precisely by naturalising and individualising our access to it.}, language = {de} } @article{SchneebergerTaborsky2020, author = {Schneeberger, Karin and Taborsky, Michael}, title = {The role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decisions}, series = {Functional ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society}, volume = {34}, journal = {Functional ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society}, number = {2}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0269-8463}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2435.13488}, pages = {302 -- 309}, year = {2020}, abstract = {1. We generally assume that animals should maximize information acquisition about their environment to make prudent decisions. But this is a naive assumption, as gaining information typically involves costs.
2. This is especially so in the social context, where interests between interacting partners usually diverge. The arms race involved in mutual assessment is characterized by the attempt to obtain revealing information from a partner while providing only as much information by oneself as is conducive to one's own intentions.
3. If obtaining information occasions costs in terms of time, energy and risk, animals should be selected to base their decisions on a cost-benefit ratio that takes account of the trade-off between the risk of making wrong choices and the costs involved in information acquisition, processing and use.
4. In addition, there may be physiological and/or environmental constraints limiting the ability to obtaining, processing and utilizing reliable information.
5. Here, we discuss recent empirical evidence for the proposition that social decisions are to an important extent based on the costs that result from acquiring, processing, evaluating and storing information. Using examples from different taxa and ecological contexts, we aim at drawing attention to the often neglected costs of information recipience, with emphasis on the potential role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decisions.}, language = {en} } @article{GonzalezFortesKolbeFernandesetal.2016, author = {Gonz{\´a}lez-Fortes, Gloria M. and Kolbe, Ben and Fernandes, Daniel and Meleg, Ioana N. and Garcia-Vazquez, Ana and Pinto-Llona, Ana C. and Constantin, Silviu and de Torres, Trino J. and Ortiz, Jose E. and Frischauf, Christine and Rabeder, Gernot and Hofreiter, Michael and Barlow, Axel}, title = {Ancient DNA reveals differences in behaviour and sociality between brown bears and extinct cave bears}, series = {Molecular ecology}, volume = {25}, journal = {Molecular ecology}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0962-1083}, doi = {10.1111/mec.13800}, pages = {4907 -- 4918}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Ancient DNA studies have revolutionized the study of extinct species and populations, providing insights on phylogeny, phylogeography, admixture and demographic history. However, inferences on behaviour and sociality have been far less frequent. Here, we investigate the complete mitochondrial genomes of extinct Late Pleistocene cave bears and middle Holocene brown bears that each inhabited multiple geographically proximate caves in northern Spain. In cave bears, we find that, although most caves were occupied simultaneously, each cave almost exclusively contains a unique lineage of closely related haplotypes. This remarkable pattern suggests extreme fidelity to their birth site in cave bears, best described as homing behaviour, and that cave bears formed stable maternal social groups at least for hibernation. In contrast, brown bears do not show any strong association of mitochondrial lineage and cave, suggesting that these two closely related species differed in aspects of their behaviour and sociality. This difference is likely to have contributed to cave bear extinction, which occurred at a time in which competition for caves between bears and humans was likely intense and the ability to rapidly colonize new hibernation sites would have been crucial for the survival of a species so dependent on caves for hibernation as cave bears. Our study demonstrates the potential of ancient DNA to uncover patterns of behaviour and sociality in ancient species and populations, even those that went extinct many tens of thousands of years ago.}, language = {en} } @article{CortesAvizandaJovaniAntonioDonazaretal.2014, author = {Cortes-Avizanda, Ainara and Jovani, Roger and Antonio Donazar, Jose and Grimm, Volker}, title = {Bird sky networks: How do avian scavengers use social information to find carrion?}, series = {Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America}, volume = {95}, journal = {Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America}, number = {7}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0012-9658}, pages = {1799 -- 1808}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The relative contribution of personal and social information to explain individual and collective behavior in different species and contexts is an open question in animal ecology. In particular, there is a major lack of studies combining theoretical and empirical approaches to test the relative relevance of different hypothesized individual behaviors to predict empirical collective patterns. We used an individual-based model to confront three hypotheses about the information transfer between social scavengers (Griffon Vultures, Gyps fulvus) when searching for carrion: (1) Vultures only use personal information during foraging ("nonsocial" hypothesis); (2) they create long chains of vultures by following both other vultures that are flying towards carcasses and vultures that are following other vultures that are flying towards carcasses ("chains of vultures" hypothesis); and (3) vultures are only attracted by other vultures that are sinking vertically to a carcass ("local enhancement" hypothesis). The chains of vultures hypothesis has been used in existing models, but never been confronted with field data. Testing is important, though, because these hypotheses could have different management implications. The model was parameterized to mimic the behavior and the densities of both Griffon Vultures and carcasses in a 10 000-km(2) study area in northeastern Spain. We compared the number of vultures attending simulated carcasses with those attending 25 continuously monitored experimental carcasses in the field. Social hypotheses outperformed the nonsocial hypothesis. The chains of vultures hypothesis overestimated the number of vultures feeding on carcasses; the local enhancement hypothesis fitted closely to the empirical data. Supported by our results, we discuss mechanistic and adaptive considerations that reveal that local enhancement may be the key social mechanism behind collective foraging in this and likely other avian scavengers and/or social birds. It also highlights the current need for more studies confronting alternative models of key behaviors with empirical patterns in order to understand how collective behavior emerges in animal societies.}, language = {en} }