Good Natured by Frans de Waal, Harvard University
Press, 拢15.95, ISBN 0 674 35660 8
EVER since Darwin鈥檚 pal Thomas Henry Huxley spoke on 鈥渆volution and
ethics鈥� to a packed Oxford audience at the end of the last century, evolutionary
biologists have been struggling to explain why humans have moral sensibilities.
Huxley, a stalwart defender of Darwin鈥檚 theory of natural selection, was deeply
vexed by this question because he saw nature as essentially nasty and utterly
indifferent to questions of right and wrong. For him, morality could only be a
human invention at odds with the natural world鈥斺�漚 sword forged by Homo
sapiens to slay the dragon of its animal past鈥�, as de Waal puts it. By
placing morality outside the biological realm, Huxley sidestepped the need to
account for its evolution.
Contemporary evolutionary biologists have largely kept to Huxley鈥檚 line, in
which 鈥渉uman kindness is not really part of the larger scheme of nature鈥�. As
Richard Dawkins wrote in his best seller, The Selfish Gene: 鈥淏e warned
that if you wish, as I do, to build a society in which individuals cooperate
generously and unselfishly towards a common good, you can expect little help
from biological nature. Let us try to teach generosity and altruism,
because we are born selfish.鈥� This pessimistic view is 鈥渆nough to give goose
bumps to anyone with faith in the depth of our moral sense鈥�, argues de Waal. 鈥淚t
also leaves unexplained where the human species can possibly find the strength
and ingenuity to battle an enemy as formidable as its own nature.鈥�
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In Good Natured, de Waal convincingly develops another, decidedly
more optimistic point of view. Without denying our penchant for nastiness, he
argues that we are at the same time moral beings to the core. 鈥淕iven the
universality of moral systems,鈥� he says, 鈥渢he tendency to develop and enforce
them must be an integral part of human nature.鈥� And because he sees morality,
not just selfishness, as an evolved characteristic of human beings, he sets out
to discover whether 鈥渟ome of the building blocks of morality are recognisable in
other animals鈥�. He faces squarely the 鈥減rofound paradox that genetic
self-advancement at the expense of others鈥攚hich is the basic thrust of
evolution鈥攈as given rise to remarkable capacities for caring and
蝉测尘辫补迟丑测鈥�.
The result is a tour de force and a landmark in the growing field of
cognitive ethology: a young science that looks at animals as knowing, wanting
and calculating beings and attempts to investigate these capabilities in a
rigorous way.
De Waal is well suited to being the flag bearer for this new movement. Now
working at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center at Emory University in
Atlanta, Georgia, de Waal is a highly regarded Dutch primatologist who has
studied apes and monkeys living in groups in outdoor enclosures at Arnhem Zoo in
the Netherlands and at several other zoos and research institutes.
Good Naturedis an example of the very best in popular science
writing. De Waal skilfully weaves together anecdotes, theories and data to
create a text that is thought-provoking and a pleasure to read. Technical
appendixes and a bibliography provide signposts for any reader who wants to go
further into the scientific literature.
A veteran primate watcher, de Waal pokes gentle fun at strait-laced
biologists who condemn researchers who use 鈥渁nthropomorphic鈥� language when
describing a chimpanzee鈥檚 social encounters. Charting the ways in which chimps
make up after a fight, de Waal says he has been criticised for using the word
鈥渞econciliation鈥� for friendly鈥攕orry, 鈥渁ffiliative鈥濃�攔eunions between
former adversaries. In this jargon, 鈥渁 reconciliation sealed with a kiss became
a `postconflict interaction involving mouth-to-mouth contact'鈥�.
But times are changing, de Waal says, and 鈥渋nterest in the mental life of
animals is regaining respectability鈥�. What fascinates de Waal about social
mammals鈥攆rom wolves to elephants鈥攊s the relational quality of
everyday life in their tightknit social groups, and their capacity for sympathy,
care and reconciliation.
Consider the behaviour of a herd of elephants in Amboseli National Park in
Kenya. The other animals surround Tina, who has a poacher鈥檚 bullet in her lungs,
and lean into her in an attempt to hold her up. And the elephant Agatha, who, 15
months after losing her mother, regularly returns to the fatal spot to gently
turn and feel her mother鈥檚 skull.
Many primates go even further, demonstrating what de Waal calls community
concern. 鈥淓ach and every individual has a stake in the quality of the social
environment on which its survival depends,鈥� he argues, and so may enter into
arbitration and mediation in disputes that help both themselves and their group
mates. At Arnhem Zoo, de Waal has observed female chimps approaching males
geared up for confrontation, gently pry open their hands and 鈥渃onfiscate鈥�
weapons such as heavy sticks or rocks.
On another occasion, at Yerkes Field Station, Jimoh the dominant chimpanzee
detects a clandestine mating between Socko, an adolescent male, and one of
Jimoh鈥檚 favourite females. Instead of chasing his rival away, he relentlessly
pursues him, intent on catching him. Several females nearby quickly note that
the situation has got out of hand, and begin a chorus of 鈥渨oaow鈥� barks, an
indignant sound used in protest against aggressors and intruders. Soon everyone
has joined in. 鈥淭he scattered beginning [of the protest] almost gave the
impression that the group was taking a vote,鈥� says de Waal. 鈥淥nce the protest
had swelled to a chorus, Jimoh broke off his attack with a nervous grin on his
face: he got the message.
Good Natured focuses on the central role of reciprocity in primate
social groups, and the ways in which animals may forge lasting alliances through
grooming, sharing food or other acts of goodwill. Chimpanzees go further. 鈥淣ot
only do they assist one another mutually, they add a system of revenge to deal
with those who oppose them,鈥� says de Waal. Not only are beneficial actions
rewarded, 鈥渢here seems to be a tendency to teach a lesson to those who act
negatively鈥�, and perhaps even a sense of indignation at a perceived
injustice.
For example, during experiments in which he gave a chimpanzee group freshly
cut branches, prized for their tasty leaves, some animals were noticeably more
generous. 鈥淚f Gwinnie obtained one of the large bundles . . . she would take it
to the top of a climbing frame, where it could easily be monopolised. Mai, in
contrast, shared readily and was typically surrounded by a cluster of beggars.
Guess who met with more resistance if she herself was in need and tried to get
food? Gwinnie and other stingy personalities encountered far more threats and
protestations than generous sharers such as Mai.鈥�
Our understanding of the roots of our moral sense has long been obscured by
our failure to recognise the centrality of our social nature, de Waal believes.
The 18th-century romantic Jean Jacques Rousseau and his intellectual descendants
may fantasise about the autonomous noble savage happily ensconced on his desert
island, and see society as so many Robinson Crusoes lumped together. But in
reality we and our close primate relatives start out as social beings鈥攅ven
as social captives鈥攕ays de Waal. We primates need our fellows to survive.
And therein lies the wellspring of our morality. Friendships, give and take, and
a sense of indignation are ways of avoiding and resolving conflict, and so of
holding the group together. As de Waal evocatively puts it: 鈥淓ach clash with a
valued companion brings in a waft of chilly air from outside the social
肠补驳别.鈥�
This is an important and provocative book that looks set to influence the way
we think about ourselves and other animals.