Philosophers, presence and disclosure

We are no longer confined to refer to the songs of the humpback whales: for some time it has been known that African elephants emit low frequency sound which travels long distance.

This is so much unlike smoke signals or flashing mirrors.

One imagines a foghorn when lost, a foghorn indicating the coast.  Or a alphorn resounding in a valley. Or a distant carillon.  But all of those are as signs of us or them, the others.

These elephants are not "beings", the philosopher tells us.  Bluecher's contemporary, Peter Geach, still speaks of "brutes" in his Mental Acts.

And now we have elephants known to pass the mirror test of self-recognition. Oh, but not a "self", of course. Even Richard Hughes in his Jamaica tale remains quite Cartesian.

It is as if Heidegger almost reaches the body: he speaks of the body, but he is limited to the voice, the hand. The hands of Hitler. The voice of Hitler. The unveiling of of his Hannah.

cp: Michel Tournier, in "Le Roi des Aulnes" - a book not listed as in Arendt's library.