The Arrogant Ape: Unlearning the Myth of Human Exceptionalism, and Why It Matters

 
　　人類真的是這個星球上最聰明、最特別的生物嗎？任教於哈佛大學人類進化生物學系的克莉絲汀‧韋伯（Christine Webb），奠基於長年對靈長類的觀察和科學研究結果，引領我們重新理解地球上的其他物種——及我們自己。《傲慢的猿》可視為當代動物行為學與人類學領域必讀的重量級著作，作者挑戰「人類中心主義」的謬誤，帶讀者踏上一場顛覆想像的知性之旅，重新認識我們與大自然的關係。
 
　　達爾文認為人類只是生命之網的一部分，而非位於自然階層的頂端。如今，人類卻傲慢地認為自己是地球上最獨特的生物，這種「我們最優越」的想法，源自於人類的文化與信仰，而非科學證據。上述的偏見不僅讓我們低估了其他物種，更使我們在過度掠奪自然資源時，仍自以為是地為自己的行為辯護，最終導致生態失衡與環境危機。
 
　　《傲慢的猿》是一封熱情洋溢的生命讚歌，提醒我們以更謙卑的姿態，與地球上的萬物優雅共處。作者多年來深入觀察與研究靈長類動物，發現牠們的社會結構、情感表達與認知能力，遠比我們過去想像來得豐富而多元。作為動物行為學家，她也敏銳指出，許多科學研究對非人類物種仍存有偏見，導致我們低估了其他生命的複雜性——其實，鳥類和草原犬鼠的語言、黑猩猩與珊瑚礁魚類的文化，乃至植物與真菌展現的智慧，都令人驚嘆不已。這本書將徹底改變你對其他物種的認知，甚至可能顛覆你看待人類與世界的方式。(文/博客來編譯)

An impassioned celebration of humility before the living world that leads us to a new understanding of other species--and ourselves

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? The Arrogant Ape shows that human exceptionalism is an ideology that relies more on human culture than our biology, more on delusion and faith than on evidence.

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 gain by dismantling its illusions of uniqueness and superiority. This shift in perspective fills us with a sense of awe and satisfies one of our oldest and deepest desires to belong to the larger whole we inhabit. What’s at stake is a better, sustainable way of life with the potential to heal and rejuvenate our shared planet.

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.