Frans de Waal
Encyclopedia
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
primatologist and ethologist. He is the Charles Howard Candler professor of Primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
Behavior
Behavior
Behavior or behaviour refers to the actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with its environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment...
in the Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
department in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, and director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center
Yerkes National Primate Research Center
The Yerkes National Primate Research Center, originally established and located in Orange Park, Florida but was later relocated to Atlanta, Georgia at Emory University, is one of eight national primate research centers funded by the National Institutes of Health...
and author of numerous books including Chimpanzee Politics and Our Inner Ape. His research centers on primate social behavior, including conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
, cooperation
Cooperation
Cooperation or co-operation is the process of working or acting together. In its simplest form it involves things working in harmony, side by side, while in its more complicated forms, it can involve something as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social patterns of a...
, inequity aversion
Inequity aversion
Inequity aversion is the preference for fairness and resistance to incidental inequalities. The social sciences that study inequity aversion include sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology and ethology.-Human studies:...
, and food-sharing. He is a Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences.
Education
De Waal studied at the Dutch universities of Radboud University NijmegenRadboud University Nijmegen
Radboud University Nijmegen is a public university with a strong focus on research in Nijmegen, the Netherlands...
, University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
, and Utrecht
Utrecht
Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands.The name may also refer to:* Utrecht , of which Utrecht is the capital* Utrecht , including the city of Utrecht* Bishopric of Utrecht* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht...
. In 1977, De Waal received his doctorate in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
from Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....
after training as a zoologist and ethologist
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
with Professor Jan van Hooff, a well-known expert of emotional facial expressions in primates. His dissertation research concerned aggressive behavior and alliance formation in macaque
Macaque
The macaques constitute a genus of Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. - Description :Aside from humans , the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to Afghanistan and, in the case of the barbary macaque, to North Africa...
s.
Career
In 1975, De Waal began a six-year project on the world's largest captive colony of chimpanzeeChimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s at the Arnhem Zoo
Burgers' Zoo
Burgers' Zoo is a zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and is one of the biggest zoos in the country. Arnhem is a city that lies within the Veluwe, a nature park in the east of the Netherlands...
. The study resulted in many scientific papers, and resulted in publication of his first book, Chimpanzee Politics, in 1982. This book offered the first description of primate behavior explicitly in terms of planned social strategies. De Waal was first to introduce the thinking of Machiavelli to primatology, leading to the label "Machiavellian Intelligence" that later became associated with it. In his writings, de Waal has never shied away from attributing emotions and intentions to his primates, and as such his work inspired the field of primate cognition
Primate cognition
Primate cognition is the study of the cognitive abilities of non-human primates. Humans are also primates but, traditionally, humans have been thought to be different from other animals...
that, three decades later, flourishes around themes of cooperation, altruism
Altruism
Altruism is a concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures, and a core aspect of various religious traditions, though the concept of 'others' toward whom concern should be directed can vary among cultures and religions. Altruism is the opposite of...
, and fairness.
His early work also drew attention to deception and conflict resolution, nowadays two major areas of research. Initially, all of this was highly controversial. Thus, the label of "reconciliation" which de Waal introduced for reunions after fights was questioned at first, but is now fully accepted with respect to animal behavior. Recently, de Waal's work has emphasized non-human animal empathy and even the origins of morality. His most widely cited paper http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.120.7176&rep=rep1&type=pdf, written with his former student Stephanie Preston, concerns the evolutionary origin and neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
of empathy.
De Waal's name is also associated with Bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
, the "make love – not war" primate that he has made popular. But even his Bonobo studies are secondary to the larger goal of understanding what binds primate societies together rather than how competition structures them.
Competition is not ignored in his work: the original focus of de Waal's research, before he was well known, was aggressive behavior and social dominance. Whereas his science focuses on the behavior of nonhuman primates (mostly chimpanzees, bonobos, macaques, and Capuchin monkeys), his popular books have given de Waal worldwide visibility by relating the insights he has gained from monkey and ape behavior to human society. With his students, he has also worked on elephants, which are increasingly featured in his writings.
His research into the innate capacity for empathy
Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings that are being experienced by another sapient or semi-sapient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion. The English word was coined in 1909 by E.B...
among primates has led De Waal to the conclusion that non-human great apes and humans are simply different types of apes, and that empathic and cooperative tendencies are continuous between these species. His belief is illustrated in the following quote from The Age of Empathy:
“We start out postulating sharp boundaries, such as between humans and apes, or between apes and monkeys, but are in fact dealing with sand castles that lose much of their structure when the sea of knowledge washes over them. They turn into hills, leveled ever more, until we are back to where evolutionary theory always leads us: a gently sloping beach.”
This is quite opposite to the view of some economists and anthropologists, who love to postulate differences between humans and other animals. However, recent work on prosocial tendencies in apes and monkeys supports de Waal's position. For example, see the research of Felix Warneken, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. In 2011, de Waal and his co-workers were the first to report that chimpanzees given a free choice between helping only themselves or helping themselves plus a partner, prefer the latter.
In 1981, de Waal moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for a position at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center
National Primate Research Center
National Primate Research Centers are a network of eight research programs in the United States funded by the National Institutes of Health to conduct biomedical research on primates...
, and took his current position at Emory and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center
Yerkes National Primate Research Center
The Yerkes National Primate Research Center, originally established and located in Orange Park, Florida but was later relocated to Atlanta, Georgia at Emory University, is one of eight national primate research centers funded by the National Institutes of Health...
in 1991.
His 2005 book Our Inner Ape examines human behavior through the eyes of a primatologist, using the behavior of common chimpanzee
Common Chimpanzee
The common chimpanzee , also known as the robust chimpanzee, is a great ape. Colloquially, the common chimpanzee is often called the chimpanzee , though technically this term refers to both species in the genus Pan: the common chimpanzee and the closely related bonobo, formerly called the pygmy...
s and bonobo
Bonobo
The bonobo , Pan paniscus, previously called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee, is a great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee...
s as metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
s for human psychology. He also writes a column for Psychologie, a popular Dutch monthly magazine.
Quotes
"The possibility that empathy resides in parts of the brainBrain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
so ancient that we share them with rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s should give pause to anyone comparing politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
s with those poor, underestimated creatures."
"I've argued that many of what philosophers call moral sentiments can be seen in other species. In chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s and other animals, you see examples of sympathy, empathy, reciprocity, a willingness to follow social rules. Dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s are a good example of a species that have and obey social rules; that's why we like them so much, even though they're large carnivore
Carnivore
A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
s."
"To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental, about both animals and us."
Awards
- 2011 Neuroscience Campus Award, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
- 2011 Honorary Degree, Colgate University
- 2010 Order of the Netherlands' Lion (knighted)
- 2009 Medal, Società di Medicina & Scienze Naturali, Parma (Italy)
- 2009 Medal, Ariëns Kappers (Netherlands' Institute for Neuroscience)
- 2009 Doctor honoris causa, University for Humanistics (Netherlands)
- 2008 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
- 2007 Time Magazine 100 World’s Most Influential People Today
- 2005 Member of the American Philosophical Society
- 2005 Arthur W. Staats Award, American Psychological Foundation
- 2004 Member of the (US) National Academy of Sciences
- 1993 Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences
- 1989 Los Angeles Times Book Award for "Peacemaking among Primates"
Books
- The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society, 2009. ISBN 978-0-307-40776-4 (reviewed in American Scientist)
- Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved, 2006. ISBN 0-691-12447-7
- Our Inner Ape. New York: Riverhead Books, 2005. ISBN 1-57322-312-3
- Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies, Edited with Peter L. Tyack. Cambridge: Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 2003. ISBN 0-674-00929-0. - My Family Album, Thirty Years of Primate Photography 2003.
- Tree of Origin: What Primate Behavior Can Tell Us about Human Social Evolution, Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 2001. ISBN 0-674-00460-4. - The Ape and the Sushi Master, Cultural reflections by a primatologistThe Ape and the Sushi MasterThe popular science book The Ape and the Sushi Master, by Frans de Waal, is an overview of animal behavior and psychology, with emphasis on primates....
. New York: Basic Books, 2001. ISBN 0-465-04175-2 - Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes (25th Anniversary ed.). Baltimore, MD: JHU PressJohns Hopkins University PressThe Johns Hopkins University Press is the publishing division of the Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The Press publishes books, journals, and electronic databases...
; 2007. ISBN 978-0-8018-8656-0. - Natural Conflict Resolution. 2000 (with Filippo Aureli)
- Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. ISBN 0-520-20535-9 (with Frans LantingFrans LantingFrans Lanting, is a Dutch photographer specializing in wildlife photography.Lanting was born in Rotterdam and later emigrated to the United States after being educated in the Netherlands. He now lives in Santa Cruz, California and operates a studio and gallery, as well as a stock photography...
) - Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals. Cambridge: Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 1996. ISBN 0-674-35660-8 - Chimpanzee Cultures, Edited with Richard Wrangham, W.C. McGrew, and Paul Heltne. Foreword by Jane GoodallJane GoodallDame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
. Cambridge: Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 1994. ISBN 0-674-11662-3. - Peacemaking Among Primates. Cambridge: Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 1989. ISBN 0-674-65920-1
Articles
- 2010 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VH9-4YRVY96-4&_user=10&_coverDate=05%2F31%2F2010&_rdoc=6&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info%28%23toc%236061%232010%23999859994%231931692%23FLA%23display%23Volume%29&_cdi=6061&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=9&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=568c2e04758a0b1691b43073e3a8ff91"Towards a bottom-up perspective on animal and human cognition"], Trends in Cognitive Sciences 201-207. May 2010
- 2009, "Darwin's last laugh", Essay, Nature 460, 175 (9 July 2009)
- 2008 "Putting the Altruism Back into Altruism: The Evolution of Empathy", Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 59: 279-300
- 2007, "Bonobos, Left & Right" Skeptic, (8 August 2007).
- 2006, "Self-recognition in an Asian elephant", PNAS, vol 103, no 45, 17053-17057
- 2001, "Do Humans Alone 'Feel Your Pain'?" (Chronicle.com, October 26, 2001)
- 1999, "The End of Nature Versus Nurture", Scientific AmericanScientific AmericanScientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
, vol 281, no 6, p 94-99 - 1995, "Bonobo Sex and Society The behavior of a close relative challenges assumptions about male supremacy in human evolution", Scientific AmericanScientific AmericanScientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
, vol 272, no 3, p 82-88
See also
- The Genius of Charles DarwinThe Genius of Charles DarwinThe Genius of Charles Darwin is a three-part television documentary, written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.It was first shown in August 2008 on Channel 4...
(documentary by Richard Dawkins including an interview with de Waal, also available in extended uncut form)
External links
- Living Links Center, currently directed by Frans de Waal
- 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, 2005 Blog)
- AmericanScientist.org - 'The Bookshelf talks with Frans de Waal', American ScientistAmerican ScientistAmerican Scientist is the bimonthly science and technology magazine published since 1913 by Sigma Xi. Each issue includes four to five feature articles written by scientists and engineers. These authors review research in all fields of science...
(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 SciencesProceedings of the National Academy of SciencesThe Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences...
(PNAS) - De Waal's editorial contribution to social psychology in Greater Good magazine
- BookTalk.org: online reading group discussion of Frans de Waal's "Our Inner Ape"
- BookTalk.org: book discussion of Frans de Waal's "Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved"
- Video (with mp3 available) of discussion with De Waal about aspects of primate behavior on Bloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tv is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers...