I think the signing apes are real. People are not as different from other animals as they often like to believe. I think the idea that humans are totally different is a bias from Christianity that has contaminated western thinking.
That said, you are right that some of the claims people make about communication are bogus, and that the "Facilitated Communication" of people is a bunch of crap. And so one must be careful about these things. But in the case of the apes, the people do not hold the hands of the apes while signing. Everyone should have pretty well known from the start that the Facilitated Communication was just nonsense.
For a start on animal communication:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_language
So, to recap, I think, but am not sure, that some apes have been trained to use some sign language. But the Facilitated Communication is ridiculous.
There certainly isn't any good fundamental, philosophical reason to reject the idea that nonhuman animals can use language. Testing it, though, is troublesome, as their language abilities are likely quite different from humans, and would presumably vary considerably, based both on mental ability and the way they perceive the world.
That said, you are right that some of the claims people make about communication are bogus, and that the "Facilitated Communication" of people is a bunch of crap. And so one must be careful about these things. But in the case of the apes, the people do not hold the hands of the apes while signing. Everyone should have pretty well known from the start that the Facilitated Communication was just nonsense.
For a start on animal communication:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_language
So, to recap, I think, but am not sure, that some apes have been trained to use some sign language. But the Facilitated Communication is ridiculous.
There certainly isn't any good fundamental, philosophical reason to reject the idea that nonhuman animals can use language. Testing it, though, is troublesome, as their language abilities are likely quite different from humans, and would presumably vary considerably, based both on mental ability and the way they perceive the world.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
