| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-10-01 | | Edition Description: | Reprint |
| Size | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.0 in | | Thickness: | 0.2 in | | Weight: | 20.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
Frans de Waal explores evidence of the building blocks of morality in both primates and lower orders of the animal kingdom, drawing on both secondary sources and his own extensive research to disprove the notion that amorality is the natural state of animals (including humans).
Frans de Waal, a Dutch-born zoologist specializing in primate behavior, takes on those who have declared ethics uniquely human. Making a compelling case for morality grounded in biology, he shows that ethical behavior in humans and animals alike is as much a matter of evolution as any other trait. photo inserts.
Industry Reviews
"Far from being half ape, half angel, torn between a moral sense that strives upward and an eons-old bestial viciousness that drags us down, [Mr. De Waal] portrays us as inheritors for a basically moral view of life that has evolved naturally over countless millenniums....Mr. De Waal wisely avoids drawing social or political conclusions from his work. However, politicians, social scientists, and moral philosophers alike will ignore his insights at their peril. Anyone who cares about humans or their future will profit form this excellent book, which sheds at least as much light on our own lives as it does on those of other creatures."
New York Times Book Review - Derek Bickerton (03/24/1996)
"...[A] translucent report from one major area of biology, and specifically from those fields and corners of fields within which the insistent questions of evolutionary theory arise. These are especially centered on which human traits can be shown to have an evolutionary structure, and how they might have evolved....I can imagine the creationists forming an alliance with the behaviorists and against [De Waal]. All the more reason to welcome the book itself, and its affable assertions."
Voice Literary Supplement - Vicki Hearne (04/19/1996)
"Frans De Waal brings his own special perspective to one of the most puzzling and important questions of nature: the origin of human morality. 'Good Natured' is a provocative and important book that demands serious attention: it will change the way we view ourselves and our place in nature."
Lewin
"This is my favorite kind of science book--so seductive in its combination of good writing and elegant reasoning, that it's almost impossible to put down. Anyone who has wished to learn more about decency, honor, and the kinder side of the natural world will rejoice in the discovery of 'Good Natured.'"
Blum
"Of course, in addition to enthralling readers with superbly written reportage of his work, De Waal wants them to consider what his research analogically suggests about human behavior and how to help our societies be happier. Like his marvelous 'Peacemaking Among Primates' (1989), this is prime science reading."
Olson
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