The Arrogant Ape - The Myth of Human Exceptionalism and Why It Matters

An impassioned celebration of humility before the living world that leads us to a new understanding of other species--and 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 enables us to exploit the earth towards our own exclusive ends, throwing us into a perilous planetary imbalance. But is this view and way of life inevitable? Harvard primatologist Christine Webb has spent years researching the rich social, emotional, and cognitive lives of our closest living relatives. She exposes the ways that many scientific studies are biased against other species and reveals underappreciated complexities 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 she gives us a paradigm-shifting way of looking at other organisms on their own terms, one that is revolutionizing our perception both of them and of ourselves. Critiques of human exceptionalism tend to focus on our moral obligation towards other species. They overlook what humanity also stands to

About the author

Christine Webb, PhD, is a broadly trained primatologist at Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, with expertise in social behavior, cognition, and emotion. She works with nonhuman primates in diverse settings and collaborates with scholars from the social sciences and humanities to reimagine the role of science in the growing charge to grant moral status to other animals. Her work has been covered by popular outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, and the BBC.

Report

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

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

"Christine Webb is the informed and ethical voice we urgently need. The Arrogant Ape convincingly argues that humans need not even should not be placed central to every discussion in science, in policy, or in considering how to live one's life. This book will reframe the way you view animal welfare, and may even reframe the way you see." Alexandra Horowitz, author of Inside of a Dog

"The Arrogant Ape is among the best books I've ever read on what it means to be a human animal perhaps, simply, the best book." Rob Dunn, author of Never Home Alone

"A brilliant book filled with insights into the living world we inhabit of diverse intelligences, forms of language, sensory feats, and entangled relations. Webb makes a powerful case against the bias of anthropocentrism that blinds us to Earth s reality by making 'man the measure of all things.' In choosing to relinquish this delusion we become more virtuous, we acquire more valid knowledge about nature, and we give ourselves the chance to live in graceful coexistence with all life. A must-read on matters of critical importance at this pivotal moment for humanity and Earth." Eileen Crist, author of Abundant Earth

Lively, engaging, and provocative. The Arrogant Ape shows that all too often our view of other species is based on a mistaken sense of superiority. Webb s colorful call for a more realistic attitude to humans place in nature provides an ideal introduction to the far-reaching problems of anthropocentrism. Richard Wrangham, author of Catching Fire

We humans have a favorite story: We are different, we re the best; in this world, we matter most. It s a myth we ve fallen for. With insights gained through a lifetime of intimately observing our primate relatives, Christine Webb unpacks the myth and diagnoses the dilemmas it s causing. She offers us a different reflection when we look in the mirror, and charts for us a saner path for nature and ourselves, offering us a kind and hopeful way forward. Carl Safina, author of Alfie and Me

A brilliant and moving invitation to rethink the illusory human-animal divide. In these vivid stories and incisive reflections, we come to see not only how blinkered we have often been but, more importantly, how we can expand experience, deepen science, and open imaginations when it comes to our relationships with other animals. A must-read for all who love the more-than-human world." David George Haskell, author of Sounds Wild and Broken

"A gifted primatologist, Christine Webb undertakes a profound take-down of the human supremacy complex. She accomplishes this not by arguing that our species is unexceptional, but by showing that every species is marvelously exceptional each creature enacting its own uncannily weird way of relating to the rest. The Arrogant Ape is not only lucidly thought and eloquently articulated; it's a deeply felt work, empathic and curious and wonder-struck. It opens us onto a more humble and collaborative natural science one that engages nature not as a quantifiable set of mechanical objects waiting to be figured out and mastered, but as a collective of often-incommensurable yet oddly intersecting styles of sentience, a breathing community of subjects to whom we can only apprentice ourselves. David Abram, author of Becoming Animal and The Spell of the Sensuous

"A glorious upending of the pervasive cultural, psychological, and biological myth of human exceptionalism. Instead of a loss for the human species, Christine Webb s beautiful book offers a gift: the re-enchantment of our connection with the earth and all of life. Here is a path to the reclamation of wonder, awe, and our deepest, most authentic intelligence." Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of Rooted and Crow Planet

Product details

• Authors: Christine Webb, Christine E Webb, Christine E. Webb
• Publisher: Avery Publishing Group
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Release: 02.09.2025
• EAN: 9798217178711
• ISBN: 9798217178711
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 21 mm
• Subjects: Guides > Nature; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Zoology; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works