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| Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals | 
| Author: Frans B. M. De Waal
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $20.50
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 362907
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0674356616
Dewey Decimal Number: 170
EAN: 9780674356610
ASIN: 0674356616
Publication Date: October 15, 1997
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Amazon.com Review
In Good Natured Frans de Waal, ethologist and primatologist, asks us to reconsider human morality in light of moral aspects that can be identified in animals. Within the complex negotiations of human society, a moral action may involve thoughts and feelings of guilt, reciprocity, obligation, expectations, rules, or community concern. De Waal finds these aspects of morality prevalent in other animal societies, mostly primate, and suggests that the two philosophical camps supporting nature and nurture may have to be disbanded in order to adequately understand human morality. A theoretician, de Waal is meticulous in his research, cautious not to extrapolate too much from his findings, and logically sound in his arguments. He also writes with precision and a flair for the dramatic, carrying readers along with graceful ease and vivid examples.
Product Description
To observe a dog's guilty look.
to witness a gorilla's self-sacrifice for a wounded mate, to watch an elephant herd's communal effort on behalf of a stranded calf--to catch animals in certain acts is to wonder what moves them. Might there he a code of ethics in the animal kingdom? Must an animal be human to he humane? In this provocative book, a renowned scientist takes on those who have declared ethics uniquely human Making a compelling case for a morality grounded in biology, he shows how ethical behavior is as much a matter of evolution as any other trait, in humans and animals alike. World famous for his brilliant descriptions of Machiavellian power plays among chimpanzees-the nastier side of animal life--Frans de Waal here contends that animals have a nice side as well. Making his case through vivid anecdotes drawn from his work with apes and monkeys and holstered by the intriguing, voluminous data from his and others' ongoing research, de Waal shows us that many of the building blocks of morality are natural: they can he observed in other animals. Through his eyes, we see how not just primates but all kinds of animals, from marine mammals to dogs, respond to social rules, help each other, share food, resolve conflict to mutual satisfaction, even develop a crude sense of justice and fairness. Natural selection may be harsh, but it has produced highly successful species that survive through cooperation and mutual assistance. De Waal identifies this paradox as the key to an evolutionary account of morality, and demonstrates that human morality could never have developed without the foundation of fellow feeling our species shares with other animals. As his work makes clear, a morality grounded in biology leads to an entirely different conception of what it means to he human--and humane.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Just a good book June 10, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I found the book to be highly readable and subject matter to be fascinating. This subject is no where near my field (which is history) but found that De Waal presents the material in way that is very accessible to anyone. De Waal has an entertaining writing style that keeps you absorbed in the reading without the effort I have found in other books on the subject.
It's very important for us to really look at where we come from and why we are what we are, and taking a look at our closest relatives is a good window into our minds. I found the analysis and the conclusions to be well formed and fairly presented. The evidence he gives for his conclusions is well documented and explained.
While I did have a few problems here and there, these did not detract from the overall readability and the pure enjoyment of the book. This was just a very enjoyable book that I would recommend to anyone, whether you have a deep interest in the topic or you're just looking for an interesting book to use up a few hours in the day.
Very important book, gives the good news about Darwinism May 12, 2007
For some time now, we have been pounded with the bad news about Darwin. Life was shaped by a war of all against all. Evolution is survival of the fittest. People are incurably violent "killer apes" because Darwin made us killing machines.
This is all alot of nonsense, and always has been. It is important for a number of reasons, however. Among other things, many of the opponents of Darwin in the academic world are motivated by an understandable distaste for the "killer ape" school of thought. If Darwin says that people are no damm good, and that is built into our genes, then we reject Darwin.
But Darwin never said any of that stuff. Evolution by natural selection favors whatever promotes survival, under the conditions a species finds itself. It promotes being big and heavy, for whales in the ocean; it promotes being light and thin, for hummingbirds. It does not promote any one thing, in all circumstances.
It particularly does not promote unlimited aggressiveness, particularly among social animals. A very more useful strategy for survival is cooperation. De Waal makes the case that cooperation is built into us, by natural selection. He uses eminently Darwinian logic, and he knows the science.
Brilliant December 7, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
De Waal is brilliant, objective, careful in reaching conclusions, ethical, a good writer, and has a lot to say. He is very much aware of research in related fields, such as developmental psychology. He and others place great store on observation of animals in natural settings, but also use controlled experimentation, analogous to the type of studies psychologists are always performing on college students. While I think this was an outstanding book, I would acknowledge that the beginning is slower reading than the end: more focused on the necessary vocabulary, some of the controversies, more argumentative, a little redundant.
De Waal contrasts "lower" primates and chimpanzees so that we can better understand the evolution of morality, and such distinctions as that between learned adjustment and true empathy. Chimps will mourn, console, deceive; the alpha male will intervene in disputes where the only objective can be restoration of harmony. As all animals, their adaptive potential exceeds the range of behavior observed in natural settings. For example, in the wild, females do not usually spend much time with other adult females, whereas in captivity they do. In captivity, they may use their friendships/alliances to control overly aggressive males, and even influence who becomes the alpha male. While morality has a genetic basis, even in monkeys there is a cultural component. In one experiment, aggressive rhesus adolescents learned to be more tolerant after living with more peaceful stump tailed macaques for 6 months.
The adaptive potential of morality is that it fosters group cohesion, which for many species is essential for defense against predators, or to find or protect resources. This is not to deny that one basis of morality is the selfish gene: by helping kin, you are helping some of your own genes to survive, so "altruistic genes" tend to perpetuate themselves.
 Morality among Primates September 25, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Good Natured is a book focusing on morality in the animal kingdom, specifically primates. Overall, I thought this was definitely a fairy easy and engrossing read. The book deals with the structure of primate societies and how they enforce morality, how deeply it extends through the primate family (de Waal primarily researches chimpanzees), and instances of love, guilt, aggression, deception from his own research and those of other primatologists. He also describes other philosophies and research into moral systems.
I like de Waals style: the studies he talked about were fascinating and he really keeps your interest. I guess the only negative is that the book is a little disjointed in places. For example, in the chapter on sympathy there is a section on deception. In the end he makes his own speculation on morality stretching across human boundaries and what he makes of the implications for treatment of primates and other animals. It's definitely a great read for anyone interested in the evolution of morality and primatology.
Clearly outstanding October 22, 2005
I must say that this book has really helped me understand how monkeys, bonobos, and chimps live in both captivity and in the wild. In the same token it has also help understand how they all interact with each other, and sometimes I must admit that they seem to treat each other like humans treat one another.
Chapter Two in the book to me seemed to be the most interesting. De Waal with great detail writes about relationships within the species. How they accept handicap within the species and how they deal with an offspring's death.
Overall this book is outstanding and clearly understood. All chapters of this book even though this book is about primates, monkeys, etc., have a tie to human beings. I recommend this book to those individuals interested in learning the behavior and the nature of primates, monkeys, etc., but most of all those interested in learning the behavior and nature of humans, after all we did evolve from old world primates.
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