Monkeys' Moral Codes
By Hayley Birch
What is it that gives us such cause for concern about taking the last jaffa cake? Why, besides the prospect of a punch-up, would you refrain from jumping into bed with your best mate’s girl/guy? And where exactly has this moral code that we all try - sometimes unsuccessfully - to adhere to, come from?
These, essentially, are the questions that Frans De Waal sets out to answer in his book Primates and Philosophers. According to De Waal, humans evolved morality as a continuation of the moral “building blocks” recognisable in our closest ancestors, the great apes.
He cites some fascinating examples of primate empathy and altruism, including a captive bonobo who climbed to the top of a tree cradling a starling, apparently in order to set it free.
One of De Waal’s central aims is to discredit the now rather outmoded, and certainly unappealing, ‘Veneer Theory’. VT argues that human morality is nothing more than a thin covering for the self-interest that really motivates us all.
And despite accusations from his critics of being rather too eager to “take a sledgehammer to it”, De Waal’s line of reasoning strikes a chord. “The human tendency to involuntarily flinch at seeing another in pain profoundly contradicts VT’s notion of us as self-obsessed.”
Philosophy has never been something that sits particularly comfortably with me, partly because I seem to be incapable of understanding a theory without thinking “what a good idea”. It tends to cause great turmoil in my head when I am faced with four or five competing theories at once.
Thankfully though, De Waal’s critics do not set about dismantling his theory with too much gusto and I was actually able to appreciate its merits and pitfalls without bursting my brains apart at the seams.
As a precautionary note, I should say that whilst it proves to be a very rewarding and thought-provoking read, Primates and Philosophers is not to be undertaken lightly, or without a measure of determination.
If, like me (a biologist by trade) you do not have the firmest grasp on philosophy to begin with, you will read the same passage three times before gaining an inkling of what is contained in it and you will repeatedly stumble across acronyms that you really ought to have learnt the meaning of twenty pages ago. So, that said, put your philosophy hat on and dive in.
Hayley's written loads of good articles. See some of them here.
This book is available from the Null Bookshop. Just click here to buy, or here if you want to pay in dollars.
You might also like:
Why don't penguins feet freeze? from New Scientist
Collapse: How Societies choose to fail or survive by Stephen Eustace
These, essentially, are the questions that Frans De Waal sets out to answer in his book Primates and Philosophers. According to De Waal, humans evolved morality as a continuation of the moral “building blocks” recognisable in our closest ancestors, the great apes.
He cites some fascinating examples of primate empathy and altruism, including a captive bonobo who climbed to the top of a tree cradling a starling, apparently in order to set it free.
One of De Waal’s central aims is to discredit the now rather outmoded, and certainly unappealing, ‘Veneer Theory’. VT argues that human morality is nothing more than a thin covering for the self-interest that really motivates us all.
And despite accusations from his critics of being rather too eager to “take a sledgehammer to it”, De Waal’s line of reasoning strikes a chord. “The human tendency to involuntarily flinch at seeing another in pain profoundly contradicts VT’s notion of us as self-obsessed.”
Philosophy has never been something that sits particularly comfortably with me, partly because I seem to be incapable of understanding a theory without thinking “what a good idea”. It tends to cause great turmoil in my head when I am faced with four or five competing theories at once.
Thankfully though, De Waal’s critics do not set about dismantling his theory with too much gusto and I was actually able to appreciate its merits and pitfalls without bursting my brains apart at the seams.
As a precautionary note, I should say that whilst it proves to be a very rewarding and thought-provoking read, Primates and Philosophers is not to be undertaken lightly, or without a measure of determination.
If, like me (a biologist by trade) you do not have the firmest grasp on philosophy to begin with, you will read the same passage three times before gaining an inkling of what is contained in it and you will repeatedly stumble across acronyms that you really ought to have learnt the meaning of twenty pages ago. So, that said, put your philosophy hat on and dive in.
Hayley's written loads of good articles. See some of them here.
This book is available from the Null Bookshop. Just click here to buy, or here if you want to pay in dollars.
You might also like:
Why don't penguins feet freeze? from New Scientist
Collapse: How Societies choose to fail or survive by Stephen Eustace
Image: Jasper Greek Golangco
Share this
