Peacemaking Among Primates (Penguin social sciences)

by Fransde Waal (Author), Franzde Waal (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1991

  $4.25

  Animal aggression, it has often been argued, proves that violence and war will always play a central role in human life, yet our closest relatives also reveal astonishing talents for making peace. In this book Frans de Waal draws on detailed observation by himself and other leading experts to create accounts of primate relationships, rivalries and reconciliations in captivity and in the wild. Each species, he reveals, has its own repertoire of peace-making strategies, none exactly like ours, yet primates can teach us an immense amount about human hierarchies and homosexuality and even about such highly charged issues as child abuse and incest. Above all they show that our conciliatory gestures and desire for peace are just as natural as our aggressive impulses; if only we can learn to accept both sides of ourselves, we may yet achieve some of our hopes for a better world.