Frans de Waal

Frans de Waal
De Waal in 2006
Born	Franciscus Bernardus Maria de Waal (1948-10-29)29 October 1948 's-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant, Netherlands
Died	14 March 2024(2024-03-14) (aged 75) Stone Mountain, Georgia, U.S.
Scientific career
Fields	Primatology, ethology
Institutions	Emory University
Doctoral advisor	Jan van Hooff
Doctoral students	Jessica Flack

Franciscus Bernardus Maria de Waal (29 October 1948 – 14 March 2024) was a Dutch-American primatologist and ethologist. He was the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Primate Behavior in the Department of Psychology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory,^[1] and author of numerous books including Chimpanzee Politics (1982) and Our Inner Ape (2005). His research centered on primate social behavior, including conflict resolution, cooperation, inequity aversion, and food-sharing. He was a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Early life and education

De Waal was born in 's-Hertogenbosch on 29 October 1948,^[2] to Jo and Cis de Waal. He grew up with five brothers in Waalwijk.^[3]

He studied at Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Groningen, and Utrecht University in the Netherlands. In 1977, De Waal received his doctorate in biology from Utrecht University after training as a zoologist and ethologist with professor Jan van Hooff, a well-known expert of emotional facial expression in primates. His dissertation, titled "Agonistic interactions and relations among Java-monkeys", concerned aggressive behavior and alliance formation in macaques.^[2][4] Fellow Dutch ethologist Niko Tinbergen was an inspiration to de Waal.^[5]

Career

In 1975, De Waal began a six-year project on the world's largest captive colony of chimpanzees at the Arnhem Zoo. The study resulted in many scientific papers, and resulted in the 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 the first to introduce the thinking of Machiavelli to primatology, leading to the label "Machiavellian intelligence" that later became associated with it.^[6] In the mid 1990’s the book was put on a reading list for Republican House freshmen.^[3] In his writings, De Waal never shied away from attributing emotions and intentions to his primates, and as such his work inspired the field of primate cognition.^[7]

De Waal's early work drew attention to deception and conflict resolution among primates, both of which became major areas of research. At first, his research was highly controversial and the label "reconciliation", which De Waal introduced for reunions after fights, was initially questioned, but came to be fully accepted with respect to animal behavior. De Waal's later work emphasized non-human animal empathy and the origins of morality. His most widely cited paper, written with his former student Stephanie Preston, concerns the evolutionary origin and neuroscience of empathy, not just in primates, but in mammals in general.^[8]

In the 1990s, there was resistance from editors against De Waal's desire to publish his work on bonobos, which included potentially controversial work about bonobo sex. However, he published an article in Scientific American in 1995 and the book Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape in 1997.^[9] De Waal made bonobos popular and gave them a "make love – not war" reputation.^[10]

De Waal's larger goal was understanding what binds primate societies together rather than how competition structures them. However, competition is not ignored in his work: the original focus of de Waal's research was aggressive behavior and social dominance. Whereas his research focused on the behavior of nonhuman primates (mostly chimpanzees, bonobos, macaques, and capuchin monkeys), his popular books gave de Waal worldwide visibility by relating the insights he has gained from monkey and ape behavior to human society. With his students, he also worked on elephants, which were increasingly featured in his writings.^[11]

De Waal's research into the innate capacity for empathy among primates led him 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."^[12]

This is quite opposite to the view of some economists and anthropologists, who postulate the differences between humans and other animals. However, recent work on prosocial tendencies in apes and monkeys supports de Waal's position. See, for example, the research of Felix Warneken,^[13] 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 fact, de Waal does not believe these tendencies to be restricted to humans and apes, but views empathy and sympathy as universal mammalian characteristics, a view that over the past decade has gained support from studies on rodents and other mammals, such as dogs. He and his students have extensively worked on such cooperation and fairness in animals. In 2011 de Waal gave a TED Talk entitled "Moral behavior in animals".^[14] Part of the talk dealt with inequity aversion among capuchin monkeys, and a video extract of this went viral. It showed the furious reaction of one monkey given a less desirable treat than another.^[15] The most recent work in this area was the first demonstration that given a chance to play the ultimatum game, chimpanzees respond in the same way as children and human adults by preferring the equitable outcome.^[16]

In 1981, de Waal moved to the United States for a position at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, and in 1991 took a position at Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was C.H. Candler Professor in the Psychology Department at Emory University and director of the Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory.^[7] He became an American citizen in 2008.

In 2005 he coined the term Veneer theory.^[17] His 2013 book The Bonobo and the Atheist examines human behavior through the eyes of a primatologist, and explores to what extent God and religion are needed for human morality. The main conclusion is that morality comes from within, and is part of human nature. The role of religion is secondary.^[18]

De Waal also wrote a column for Psychologie Magazine, a popular Dutch monthly.^[19]

From 1 September 2013, de Waal was a distinguished professor (universiteitshoogleraar) at Utrecht University. This was a part-time appointment whilst he remained in his position at Emory University, in Atlanta.^[2][20]

In October 2016, de Waal was the guest on the BBC Radio Four program The Life Scientific.^[21]

In June 2018, de Waal was awarded the NAT Award, established by the Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona. It was awarded to de Waal "for his vision regarding the evolution of animal behaviour in establishing a parallel between primate and human behaviour in aspects such as politics, empathy, morality and justice."^[22]

Two of de Waal’s last books, “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” (2016) and “Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves” (2019), were best sellers.^[23]

De Waal died of stomach cancer on 14 March 2024 in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He was 75.^[24]

Awards

Selected bibliography

Books

• Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist. New York: W. W. Norton. 2022. ISBN 978-1-324-00710-4.
• Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves. New York: W. W. Norton. 2019. ISBN 978-0-393-63506-5.
• Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?. New York: W. W. Norton. 2016. ISBN 978-0-393-24618-6.
• The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates. New York: W. W. Norton. 2013. ISBN 978-0-393-07377-5.
• The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society. New York: Crown Publishing Group. 2009. ISBN 9780307407771.
• 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^[44]
• Animal Social Complexity: Intelligence, Culture, and Individualized Societies, Edited with Peter L. Tyack. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 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 Press, 2001. ISBN 0-674-00460-4.
• The Ape and the Sushi Master, Cultural reflections by a primatologist. New York: Basic Books, 2001. ISBN 0-465-04175-2
• Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes (25th Anniversary ed.). Baltimore, MD: JHU Press; 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 Lanting)
• Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-674-35660-8
• Chimpanzee Cultures, Edited with Richard Wrangham, W.C. McGrew, and Paul Heltne. Foreword by Jane Goodall. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-674-11662-3.
• Peacemaking Among Primates. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989. ISBN 0-674-65920-1

Articles

• 2022 de Waal, Frans B.M. and K. Andrews. "The question of animal emotions." Science 375 (6587): 1351–1352. 25 March 2022.
• 2015 Opinion piece about the discovery of Homo naledi in The New York Times
• 2013 Opinion piece about animal intelligence in The Wall Street Journal
• 2010 Opinion piece about God and morality in The New York Times
• 2010 de Waal, Frans B.M.; Ferrari, Pier Francesco (May 2010). "Towards a bottom-up perspective on animal and human cognition". Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 14 (5): 201–207. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2010.03.003. PMID 20363178. S2CID 16459127.
• 2009, de Waal, Frans B. M. (July 2009). "Darwin's last laugh". Nature. 460 (7252): 175. Bibcode:2009Natur.460..175D. doi:10.1038/460175a. PMID 19587747. S2CID 207787993.
• 2008 de Waal, Frans B.M. (January 2008). "Putting the Altruism Back into Altruism: The Evolution of Empathy". Annual Review of Psychology. 59 (1): 279–300. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093625. PMID 17550343.
• 2007, "Bonobos, Left & Right" Skeptic, (8 August 2007).
• 2006, Plotnik, Joshua M.; de Waal, Frans B. M.; Reiss, Diana (7 November 2006). "Self-recognition in an Asian elephant". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (45): 17053–17057. doi:10.1073/pnas.0608062103. PMC 1636577. PMID 17075063.
• 2005, "The empathic ape", New Scientist, 8 October 2005
• 2001, "Do Humans Alone 'Feel Your Pain'?" (Chronicle.com, 26 October 2001)
• 1999, de Waal, Frans B. M. (December 1999). "The End of Nature versus Nurture". Scientific American. 281 (6): 94–99. Bibcode:1999SciAm.281f..94D. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1299-94. JSTOR 26058526. PMID 10614071.
• 1995, de Waal, Frans B. M. (March 1995). "Bonobo Sex and Society The behavior of a close relative challenges assumptions about male supremacy in human evolution". Scientific American. 272 (3): 82–88. S2CID 14326127.

See also

• The Genius of Charles Darwin (Richard Dawkins interviews De Waal)
• The Family of Chimps, a Dutch documentary film based on de Waal's book, Chimpanzee Politics and Our Inner Ape

References

Further reading

• Nuzzo, R. (1 August 2005). "Profile of Frans B. M. de Waal". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (32): 11137–11139. Bibcode:2005PNAS..10211137N. doi:10.1073/pnas.0505686102. PMC 1183609. PMID 16061791.

External links

IssuesConceptsPain in
nonhuman animalsOrganisationsPublicationsActivists
and workers

Contemporary

Michael C. Appleby Cynthia Bathurst Matthew E. Bershadker Christa Blanke Moira Brown Jan Cameron Judy MacArthur Clark Kendra Coulter Peter Ronald Davies Petra Deimer Alanna Devine Robin Ganzert Celia Hammond Alison Hanlon Brian Hare Kathrin Glock Emily Patterson-Kane Philip Lymbery Damien Mander Christine Nicol Wayne Pacelle Sharon Pincott Ilka Reinhardt Jill Robinson Naomi Sagara Sepehr Salimi Adolfo Sansolini Rakesh Shukla Karen Stockin Patti Strand Sally Varma Tina M. Widowski

Historical

Gertrude Ansell Emily Appleton Madeleine Bemelmans Henry Bergh Mary Brancker Victoria Braithwaite Roger A. Caras Jim Cronin Brian Davies Maria Dickin Marjorie Doggett Muriel Dowding Alice Drakoules Sarah J. Eddy Aida McAnn Flemming Lucy Furman Julia Goddard Robert Gower Colesworthey Grant George Greenwood Peter Gurney Velma Bronn Johnston Catherine Victoria Hall Rachel Hirschfeld Sjoerd Hofstra Albert Knapp Titus Lander Carla Lane Etta Lemon Victoria Lidiard Terry Maple Richard Martin Shirley McGreal Harriet Nevins Catherine Louisa Pirkis Eliza Phillips Maude Gillette Phillips Samuel Jackson Pratt Wilfred Risdon Peter Roberts Jan Salter Catherine Smithies Thomas Bywater Smithies Herbert Snow Ellin Prince Speyer Christine Stevens Elisabeth Svendsen Mary Tealby Ralph Waldo Trine Sidney Trist Ethel Venton Jessey Wade Christopher Wathes Franz Weber Caroline Earle White Emily Williamson H. Fergie Woods Alice Morgan Wright Gretchen Wyler

Scholars
and writers

Contemporary

Arnold Arluke Jonathan Balcombe Michael Balls Geoffrey Barstow Marc Bekoff Donald Broom Marian Dawkins Bruce Fogle Jane Goodall Temple Grandin Celia Haddon Jane Hurst Erich Hoyt Barbara J. King Alistair Lawrence David Macdonald Jeremy Marchant Jeff McMahan Daniel Mills Sy Montgomery Virginia Morell Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell Clare Palmer Susan J. Pearson Dale Peterson Jessica Pierce Diana Reiss Carl Safina Matthew Scully Paul Shapiro Jennifer Skiff Peter Wohlleben

Historical

George T. Angell Patrick Bateson Beddow Bayly Ernest Bell Edward Berdoe Arthur Broome Jean Burden Gerald Carson Stephen Coleridge Christian Adam Dann J. Morewood Dowsett Audrey Eyton George Fleming Ralph Fletcher Ruth Harrison C. W. Hume E. Douglas Hume James Macaulay Basheer Ahmad Masri Francis Orpen Morris George Nicholson Siobhan O'Sullivan Charles Reinhardt Francis H. Rowley W. M. S. Russell Chris Sherwin Colin Spedding William O. Stillman Bell Taylor Ernst von Weber D. G. M. Wood-Gush Frans de Waal Hugh Wirth William Youatt

CategoriesReligious
considerationsRituals and
festivalsLegislationRelated