The Arrogant Ape: A New Way to See Humanity

(Paperback)

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Drawing on the author's work with primates - as well as on psychological experiments, language and anecdote - The Arrogant Ape explores the widespread idea that humans are superior to animals, arguing that we need to divest ourselves of this belief in order to stop the destruction of the planet.

Showing that humanity's inherent belief that superior intelligence and importance is misplaced, and that both are learned and acquired by the time we are adults, Christine Webb also explores how our belief that we are 'above' nature has contributed to climate change as well as to pandemics like Covid 19.

For readers of Entangled Life, Other Minds and The Hidden Life of Trees, The Arrogant Ape looks at the link between human exceptionalism and the ecological crisis for the first time.

Reviews

A thrilling, disconcerting, ultimately hopeful expos of our species' self-regarding prejudices. Webb puts us in our place (and a fine place that is, in fact), showing us how much more fascinating the world is if we see it as it is, rather than denigrating it and using it as a mere resource. A crucial and transformative read -- Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild
In her landmark book, Christine Webb makes clear that the notion that we're the most important show in town - smarter than, better than, more important than, uniquely exceptional, above, and separate from other animals - has got it all wrong. This distorted view of humans in which we use ourselves as some sort of standard to which individuals of other species should strive is not only arrogant, but singularly ill-informed. I highly recommend The Arrogant Ape. We need a new mindset, a paradigm shift in which we decenter ourselves and work alongside other species to change the dismal road on which we are currently and recklessly traveling -- Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals
The Arrogant Ape is a multidisciplinary takedown of anthropocentrism. Bursting with vivid firsthand accounts of encounters with wild animals and a survey of cutting-edge research into animal cognition, Webb offers a deeply considered, self-reflective, and undeniably philosophical approach to the scientific study of animal behavior. Christine Webb is spearheading a paradigm shift in science; deftly folding in Indigenous and phenomenological perspectives to forge a hybrid approach to empirical knowledge-seeking. Her book is a modern exploration of the ancient speciesism problem, leading the reader toward a hopeful appeal that we can dispel our culturally acquired forms of anthropocentrism in service of a humbler path to understanding both the animal mind and humanity's connection to the natural world. Webb will leave you in awe -- Justin Gregg, author of If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal

Author Bio

Christine Webb is a College Fellow in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and specialises in primate behaviour. This book has grown out of a course she teaches at Harvard which has proved exceptionally popular and has the longest waiting list for enrolment of any course in the department.