„Do monkeys compare themselves to others?“

Abstract

Abstract After briefly reconstructing the history of comparison both as a method of ‘comparing sciences’ in the 18th and 19th centuries and as an every-day phenomenon, the essay sets out to explore the historic and on-going debate on anthropological origins and features of comparing. By referring to different academic cultures – natural sciences, social sciences, humanities – the paper confronts insights and results of scientific experiments that test comparing practices of primates with Franz Kafka’s Report to an Academy. While the anthropological question still remains unresolved, the different cultures of science and literature reveal different aspects by laying bare the foundations of comparing processes.