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There is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves.

Frans de Waal

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Frans de Waal
Age: 76
Born: 1948
Born: October 29
Ethologist
Non-Fiction Writer
Primatologist
Psychologist
University Teacher
Zoologist
Den Bosch
Frans B M de Waal
Frans B. M. de Waal
F. de Waal
Little
Judge
Actions
Animals
Judging
Evidence
Animal
Appropriateness
Action
Affect
Littles
Directly

More quotes by Frans de Waal

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I describe in 'Chimpanzee Politics' how the alpha male needs broad support to reach the top spot. He needs some close allies and he needs many group members to be on his side.
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When we are bad, we are worse than any primate that I know. And when we are good, we are actually better and more altruistic than any primate that I know.
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To neglect the common ground with other primates, and to deny the evolutionary roots of human morality, would be like arriving at the top of a tower to declare that the rest of the building is irrelevant, that the precious concept of tower ought to be reserved for the summit.
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Science is not inherently good.
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We would much rather blame nature for what we don't like in ourselves than credit it for what we do like.
Frans de Waal
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Humans have a lot of pro-social tendencies.
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Darwin wasn't just provocative in saying that we descend from the apes - he didn't go far enough. We are apes in every way, from our long arms and tailless bodies to our habits and temperament.
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There's actually a lot of evidence in primates and other animals that they return favors.
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If we look straight and deep into a chimpanzee's eyes, an intelligent self-assured personality looks back at us. If they are animals, what must we be?
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The chimpanzees could tear me apart in no time. They're many times stronger than we are.
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Religion may have become a codification of morality, and it may fortify it, but it's not the origin of it.
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The development of family entities enables men to cooperate far more effectively. Instead of constantly competing for the women with other men, each man essentially has a partner assigned to him, one with whom he can establish a family.
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I call the notion that we are nothing but killer apes the Beethoven fallacy. Beethoven was disorganized and messy, and yet his music is the epitome of order.
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People want to work with somebody who feels shame, who worries about the perceptions of others. Dishonesty is something we don't like in others.
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We are territorial, power-hungry and even more brutal than chimpanzees.
Frans de Waal
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Being both more systematically brutal than chimps and more empathetic than bonobos, we are by far the most bipolar ape. Our societies are never completely peaceful, never completely competitive, never ruled by sheer selfishness, and never perfectly moral.
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It is well known that apes in the wild offer spontaneous assistance to each other, defending against leopards, say, or consoling distressed companions with tender embraces.
Frans de Waal
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I think we need to start thinking about grounding our moral systems in our biology.
Frans de Waal
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The primate laugh is given in playful contexts, and as such has a strong similarity to the human laugh.
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Exclusive homosexuality is not very common in nature.
Frans de Waal