We have long attributed man's violent, aggressive, competitive nature to his animal ancestry. But what if we are just as given to cooperation, empathy, and morality by virtue of our genes? This work looks at the most provocative aspects of human nature - power, sex, violence, kindness, and morality.[...]
This remarkable primate with the curious name is challenging established views on human evolution. The bonobo, least known of the great apes, is a female-centered, egalitarian species that has been dubbed the 'make-love-not-war' primate by specialists. In bonobo society, females form alliances to in[...]
In this engaging book, leading primatologist and thinker Frans de Waal offers an illuminating new perspective on human nature. Bringing together his pioneering research on primate behaviour, the latest findings in evolutionary biology and insights from moral philosophy, de Waal explains that we don'[...]
The most accessible edition ever published of Darwin's incendiary classic, edited by ?as fine a science essayist as we have? ("New York Times")
"The Descent of Man," Darwin's second landmark work on evolutionary theory (following "The Origin of the Species"), marked a turning point in the histor[...]
To observe a dog's guilty look. to witness a gorilla's self-sacrifice for a wounded mate, to watch an elephant herd's communal effort on behalf of a stranded calf--to catch animals in certain acts is to wonder what moves them. Might there he a code of ethics in the animal kingdom? Must an animal be [...]
'It's the animal in us', we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? "Primates and Philosophers" tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality. In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that mode[...]
The first edition of Frans de Waal's Chimpanzee Politics was acclaimed not only by primatologists for its scientific achievement but also by politicians, business leaders, and social psychologists for its remarkable insights into the most basic human needs and behaviors. Twenty-five years later, th[...]
Is it really human nature to stab one another in the back in our climb up the corporate ladder? Competitive, selfish behavior is often explained away as instinctive, thanks to evolution and ""survival of the fittest,"" but, in fact, humans are equally hard-wired for empathy.
Using research from[...]
Argues that such social virtues as cooperation, empathy, and morality are as genetically inherent as aggressive and competitive behaviors, drawing on research with two ape species whose DNA most closely resembles that of humans to explain how ape instincts can inform readers about human behavior. Re[...]
Tänker vi på släktskapet mellan apa och människa tänker vi oftast på schimpansen. Betydligt mindre känd och helt väsensskild är en annan primat, som också har ett DNA som är nästan identiskt med människans: bonoboen. Till skillnad från schimpansens stundtals aggressiva och tävlingsinr[...]
"Girighet är bra. Girighet är rätt. Girighet fungerar. Girighet fångar själva den evolutionära andan."
I filmen Wall Street gör finansmannen Gordon Gekko (spelad av Michael Douglas) en förmodligen sann uttolkning av tidsandan. Men när det gäller den "evolutionära andan" tar h[...]