The Arrogant Ape
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Little, Brown Book Group
Publishing:6th Nov '25
£20.00
This title is due to be published on 6th November, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
Darwin considered humans one part of the web of life, not the apex of a natural hierarchy. Yet today many maintain that we are the most intelligent, virtuous, successful species that ever lived. This flawed thinking persuades us to exploit the earth at the expense of other species, throwing us into a perilous planetary imbalance.
In The Arrogant Ape, Christine Webb draws on years of research into the rich social, emotional, and cognitive lives of our closest living relatives to show that human exceptionalism is an ideology that relies more on culture, delusion and faith than on evidence. She exposes the ways that many scientific studies are biased against other species and reveals underappreciated wonders of nonhuman life - from the language of songbirds and prairie dogs, to the cultures of chimpanzees and reef fishes, to the acumen of plants and fungi. With compelling stories and fresh research, The Arrogant Ape gives us a paradigm-shifting way of looking at other organisms - and ourselves - that is essential if we are to heal and rejuvenate our shared planet.
A thrilling, disconcerting, ultimately hopeful exposé 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
ISBN: 9781408717721
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
352 pages