Literature Network » Oliver Wendell Holmes

Standing upright: the moral and legal standing of humans and other apes.

Content courtesy of

From: Stanford Law Review
Date: 20011001
Author:Kolber, Adam

INTRODUCTION

In The Common Law, Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that "even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked." (1) Holmes suggested that even dogs can tell the difference between intentional aggression and benign mistake, and his observation is often cited to show how a vague legal standard can still have clear applications. (2) Far less often is the quote considered as an empirical statement about the abilities of dogs. In that light, the quote suggests that dogs can understand humans well enough to discern the motivation (or lack thereof) behind ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Oliver Wendell Holmes

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.