Most of the afternoon my dog Zoe is asleep. When it is getting close to four o’clock she wakes up, and comes to find me — if I don’t seem to get the point she makes it clear that she is calling me for it is time for her afternoon walk. She believes that she will get a walk, if she makes sure that I don’t ignore her.
When I say all this about my dog Zoe, am I just falling victim to anthropomorphism?
Bas van Fraassen's philosophy blog 
No. She has thoughts. She understands time. She knows you like the back of her paw!
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Chuangtse and Huitse were walking along the riverside. Chuangtse said: ‘‘See how the fishes are leaping out of the water! That’s the fishes’ joy.’’ Huitse interjected: ‘‘You aren’t the fishes. How can you know that this is the fishes’ joy?’’Chuangtse replied: ‘‘You aren’t me. How can you know that I do not know that this is the fishes’ joy?’’ And after another exchange of logical blows Chuangtse concluded: ‘‘I know the fishes’ joy from my joy at looking on.’’
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Yes. Inevitably. And that’s alright as long as this projection of meaning is one of care. We are using our own linguistic filters for every animal observation. We cannot dissect language from ourselves to observe them elsewise. We are responsible for our interpretations of languageless beings for they cannot debate those interpretations literally. Whether their lack of saying, lack of word, is something we shall use to justify harm or care depends on what we (wish to) project. Otherwise we’ll have to demonstrate how we can perceive a dog without language (or without being humans/άνθρωποι), and that is by definition impossible.
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