Frans de Waal
Frans B.M. de Waal, PhD (b.
1948,
Utrecht, the
Netherlands) is a
psychologist,
primatologist and
ethologist. He is the C.H. Chandler professor of
Primate Behavior in the
Emory University psychology department in
Atlanta, Georgia, and director of the
Living Links Center at the
Yerkes National Primate Research Center and author of numerous books including "Chimpanzee Politics" and "Our Inner Ape." His research centers on primate social behavior, including
conflict resolution,
cooperation,
inequity aversion, and food-sharing. In
1993, he was elected to the
Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, and was elected as a foreign associate of the
United States National Academy of Sciences in
2004.
In
1977, de Waal received his doctorate in
biology from
Utrecht University after training as a
zoologist and ethologist. His dissertation research concerned aggressive behavior and
alliance formation in
macaques.
In
1975, de Waal began a six-year project on the world's largest captive colony of
chimpanzees at the
Arnhem Zoo. The study resulted in many scientific papers, and resulted in publication of his first book,
Chimpanzee Politics, in
1982.
In
1981, he moved to the
United States for a position at the
Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, and took his current position at Emory and the
Yerkes National Primate Research Center in
1991.
His research into the innate capacity for
empathy among primates has led de Waal to the conclusion that non-human
great apes and
humans are simply different types of apes, and that there is little difference between these species, except that humans walk on two legs.
His book,
Our Inner Ape, examines human behavior through the eyes of a primatologist, using the behavior of
Common Chimpanzees and
Bonobos as
metaphors for human psychology.
People such as primatologists and
zoo keepers who work on a daily basis with apes, always have a high opinion of
apes' intelligence and abilities. Those who attempt to minimize
apes' language abilities and
cognitive skills are always people with little or no first-hand experience with apes.
"The possibility that empathy resides in parts of the
brain so ancient that we share them with
rats should give pause to anyone comparing
politicians with those poor, underestimated creatures." Frans de Waal
Professor de Waal once spoke to a group of Behaviorist psychologists about reconciliation among chimpanzees. They refused to accept this, insisting that reconciliation can only happen in
Homo sapiens. De Waal invited them to witness the chimps reconciling. They declined, claiming that first-hand observation would destroy their "scientific objectivity." They were behaving just like the
Aristotelian scholars who refused to look through the telescope of
Galileo.
Books
*
Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are. New York: Riverhead Books,
2005. ISBN 1573223123
*
Chimpanzee Politics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Universitry Press,
2000. ISBN 0801863368.
*
Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies (edited with Peter L. Tyack). Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
2003. ISBN 0674009290.
*
The Ape and the Sushi Master. New York: Basic Books,
2001. ISBN 0465041752
*
Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1997. ISBN 0520205359
*
Good Natured. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1996. ISBN 0674356608
*
Peacemaking Among Primates. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1989. ISBN 0674659201
Articles
*
2001, "Do Humans Alone 'Feel Your Pain'?" (
Chronicle.com, October 26, 2001)
*
1999, "The End of Nature Versus Nurture",
Scientific American, vol 281, no 6, p 94-99
*
1995, "Bonobo Sex and Society",
Scientific American, vol 272, no 3, p 82-88
*
Emory.edu - 'Frans B. M. de Waal, C. H. Candler Professor of Primate Behavior', Emory University faculty homepage
*
92Y.org - 'Talking Primates with Dr. Frans de Waal' (August 25, 2005Blog ]
*
AmericanScientist.org - 'The Bookshelf talks with Frans de Waal',
American Scientist (2001)
*
ITConversations.com - 'Frans de Waal, Comparative Primatologist' (includes mp3 audio clip; October 21, 2004)
*
PaulaGordon.com - 'Natural Goodness', Paula Gordon
*
PNAS.org - 'Profile of Frans B. M. de Waal', Regina Nuzz,
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
