Frans de Waal
Professor of Primate Behavior, Emory University
Frans de Waal is a Dutch/American biologist and primatologist. He teaches at Emory University and directs the Living Links Center for the Study of Ape and Human Evolution, in Atlanta, Georgia. He is known for his popular books, such as Chimpanzee Politics (1982), Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape (1997) and The Age of Empathy (2009). He has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences.
Why “survival of the fittest” is wrong
He's studied apes for 50 years - here's what most people get wrong.
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Why the ‘alpha male’ stereotype is wrong
Big and strong? That's not what makes an alpha male, says primatolgist Frans de Waal.
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Why people (and chimps) throw temper tantrums
Primatologist Frans de Waal explains the primal instinct that unites humans and chimpanzees.
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Morality Without Religion
Can we dispatch with religion altogether?
The Biological Basis of Moral Relativism
Biology gives us the general moral sense and the general ability to develop a moral system but the specific rules that we apply in our society are not necessarily given by biology.
Bonobo Taboos: Examining the Primate Hippy Image
Bonobos have sex with everybody basically all the time. Well, not everybody.
We Don’t Need an Evolutionary Explanation for Everything
I feel this tendency to come up with an evolutionary explanation for basically everything under the sun is not needed.
The Ultimatum Game: What Primates Can Teach Us About Inequality
The ultimatum game is the ultimate test of fairness, and chimpanzees passed the test by going for the fair options.
It’s Not a Dog-Eat-Dog World, After All
Darwin literally said that many of the social instincts, as he called it, of the animals are represented in our human morality.
The Moral Heroism of Chimpanzees
Darwin may not have seen that a seemingly altruistic primate can also be quite disastrously aggressive.
Love Bonobos for What They Are
There are many people who love Bonobos precisely for the reason that they are what they are.
When Altruism Defies Evolutionary Logic
Adoption is very common in the human species even though you don’t get much back from it.
Why I’m an Animal Lover
I study animals not to understand humans necessarily although that has become my business, of course.
Morality Without Religion
I am optimistic that religion is not strictly needed. But I cannot be a hundred percent sure because there is no human society where religion is totally absent so we […]
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