-Poul Anderson, The Day Of Their Return IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 75-240 AT p. 82.
It seems to me that "sentience" should mean "sensation," not "intelligence." Sure enough, Chambers 20th Century Dictionary defines "sentient" as:
"conscious: capable of sensation: aware: responsive to stimulus."
Sf writers seem to use "sentient" to mean "intelligent."
Does "races" mean subdivisions within a ("sentient" or intelligent) species? Merseians can be different shades of green and there are even some black Merseians. If, however, all Merseians are regarded as of a single "race," then it is unnecessary to list races and species separately. I suspect though that some species do have significant internal differences that might be classified as "racial." The Imperial administrators must be prepared to cope with anything and everything like, e.g., the differentiation between Flock and Fleet on Diomedes.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yet again I'm a bit chagrined at how you noticed an interesting detail I did not pause to ponder over in my previous readings of THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN. On reflection, it does seem a needless duplication for Anderson to have joined "races" next to "sentient species." They both seem to mean the same thing and it was thus not necessary to include both. But your remarks about how DIFFERENT societies even among members of the same species can be does vindicate this otherwise odd conjoining of "race" with "sentient species."
Sean
Sean,
Another word to contrast with "sentient" is "sapient."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm not sure if I ever saw any science fiction writers, including Poul Anderson, using "sapient" in referring to non human intelligent races. "Sapient" would seem more naturally used of INDIVIDUALS, not species.
Sean
Sean:
And yet we speak of the species *Homo sapiens*, not *Homo sentiens*. [Musical chord] "TRADITIONNNNN!" (With apologies to Tevye.)
Kaor, DAVID!
That's rather cool, "Homo sentiens," and I hope it's correct Latin.
And I just remember that one of the older meanings of "race" is how it can be applied to FAMILIES. Esp. to old, long established dynasties. I've seen some older historians referring to such things in their works as the "race of Hugh Capet," etc.
Sean
Post a Comment