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In Search of the Uniquely Human

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2005

Michael Tomasello*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
Malinda Carpenter*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
Josep Call*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
Tanya Behne*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
Henrike Moll*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Abstract

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As Bruner so eloquently points out, and Gauvain echoes, human beings are unique in their “locality.” Individual groups of humans develop their own unique ways of symbolizing and doing things – and these can be very different from the ways of other groups, even those living quite nearby. Our attempt in the target article was to propose a theory of the social-cognitive and social-motivational bases of humans' ability and propensity to live in this local, that is, this cultural, way – which no other species does – focusing on such things as the ability to collaborate and to create shared material and symbolic artifacts.

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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005