I have a pet parrot, an African Grey, and she is very smart. Experiments have been done on the problem solving abilities of these clever birds. They can do simple addition and subtraction problems in order to get a reward. I think this means my parrot, Polly, is rational. She responds well to rewards (a saltine cracker) and she is a quick learner when it comes to remembering what I tell her. I talk to her about my ideas and especially since I’m quarantined, she’s picked up quite a bit. Every morning I go out to my garden with my coffee and a half dozen or so crackers and, since Polly is an early riser, we engage in the dialectic. Polly is intellectually precocious, like an avian John Stuart Mill. This morning she recited her lessons:
“Polly is a pretty bird”
“Polly wants a cracker”
“Polly meditates on first philosophy.”
“Polly obeys the Categorical Imperative.”
“Polly has a particular interest in the philosophy of mind.”
“Polly has a psyche and she can introspect and report back what she finds.”
“Polly has developed a splendid collection of Aristotelian habits and virtues”
What, if anything have you learned, that Polly has not? I still have some crackers left.