The Quiescent Ass and the Dumbstruck Wolf

摘要

The animal used as a cipher is employed to make a point for which there is no obvious or necessary reason that this animal was chosen. Austin's pigs and Buridan's ass were, for all philosophical intents and purposes, interchangeable, faceless place-fillers. An index, on the other hand, points out what is of interest, using a particular quality or behavior that is peculiar to the animal and therefore intrinsic or necessary to the philosophical argument. Light is shed on Austin's explanation by his bioluminescent fish, while Freud follows the unique route indicated by the white wolves back to his patient's childhood, before his faithfully docile dogs point up his own weaknesses. The cipherous use, in which the choice of animal is entirely arbitrary and inconsequential, stands in direct contrast to the index-ical use, in which specific qualities of specially chosen creatures are required. Both means of employment retain the services of animals, but while the cipherous use denies any attributes to the animal, the indexical use relies on particular qualities.