The Metaphysics of Apes: Negotiating the Animal-Human Boundary

ISBN-13: 9780521545334 / Angielski / Miękka / 2005 / 238 str.

Raymond H. A. Corbey

Opis

Tracing the interpretation of the human-like great apes and ape-like earliest ancestors of present-day humans, this study demonstrates how from the days of Linnaeus to the present, the sacred and taboo-ridden animal-human boundary was constantly tested. The unique dignity of humans, a central value in the West, was, and to some extent still is, on the minds of taxonomists, ethnologists, primatologists, and archaeologists. This book thus offers an anthropological analysis of the burgeoning anthropological disciplines in terms of their own cultural taboos and philosophical preconceptions.

Recenzje

'The text is clearly written, … and has useful summaries at the end of each chapter. … a fascinating, informative and intriguing must for all those interested in the arguments humans have found to place themselves, their alike and their ancestors in nature or, alternatively, above or beside it.' Sabine Eggers, Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Spis treści

Preface; Introduction; Part I. Ambiguous Apes: 1. Traditional views of apes; 2. The discovery of apes and early hominids; 3. Citizens and animals; Part II. Crafting the Primate Order: 4. Homo sylvestris; 5. The primate order; 6. Separate again; 7. Speaking apes; Part III. Up From the Ape: 8. 'A grim and grotesque procession'; 9. The monstrous other within; 10. Narrative and paradox; Part IV. Homo's Humanness: 11. The earliest homo; 12. 'Ancients' and 'Moderns'; Part V. 'Symbolic Man' in Ethnology: 13. A discipline's identity; 14. Biological approaches rejected; Part VI. Pan Sapiens?: 15. Fierce or gentle; 16. Tools, mirrors, symbols; 17. Ape and human rights; Part VII. Beyond Dualism: 18. An epistemological reminder; 19. Rethinking dichotomies; Bibliography.