> > Can an animal produce art? > > > Yes, there is that elephant that paints pictures that people buy. <GRIN> Yea yea yea? Does the elephant actually decide what to paint or is it acting as a "robot" for its Mahout? If it is merely a learned response - it has been trained to paint one picture or follow the mahout's instructions ... then it is not the elephant's creation. A photocopier can produce copies - but they are copies. The nearest for sure might be a) bower birds - but the decoration of the bower arguably is utilitarian: no decoration, no mate b) caddis fly larvae - very particular about how they decorate thier shells ... Traditionally animals apart from man had (were though of as having) no rational thought - only responses. If art required intellectual input (creativity?) they were by definition excluded. Bob
