What a wonderful book!

I loved this book as it really helped me on a psychological and philosophical level to resolve a lot of the old misconceptions about head vs heart. the main thrust of this book is that we have the equipment to be good, kind, moral, compassionate individuals hardwired into our biology. It also explains very clearly how and why emotions are such an important part of what makes us able to develop ethics and a sense of morality. He also looks at religion and atheism and the problems inherent on a to down: head dominating the heart, type of morality. I loved this sane, well written, highly informative argument in favour of humanism. The most impressive part of this book is how it reveals how ideology can drive research and how people interpret and discuss evolution and natural selection and just how political that can be. The right-wingers like to emphasise our similarity to chimps and left winger like to emphasise our similarity to bonobos. Frans de Waal tries to grasp the whole picture and reclaims our humanity and our complexity. We need more people like him if we are to achieve a less ideological and more human understanding of morality. Objective and unembarrassed about dealing with more subjective questions.

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Moral Animals

An insightful reflection on the continuities between humans and other animals⁠—especially our primate cousins⁠—in our emotions, intelligence, and norms of behaviour. The Bonobo and the Atheist explores the evolution of morality and the place of religion in our lives, seamlessly blending science, speculation, storytelling, and⁠—yes, even⁠—art criticism. If there is a short-coming here, it is that the balance between these elements will be a little unsatisfactory for anyone who is mainly interested in the science.

The book is truly brought to life by Jonathan Davis's narration

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Packed with original thinking

I loved the new perspective Mr de Waal presents. I knew nothing about bonobos before I read this book, but I am now interested in them and glad to have them as a predecessor! Sensitively written, I found some parts very sad.

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Outstanding read for believers and nonbelievers

We kid ourselves that we are superior to other animals due to our intellect. This book throws light on how we share so many of our supposedly distinctly human morals with other species and especially our closest brethren, the apes. And if you are a proselytising atheist looking for support to rail against organised religion, look elsewhere. The author has little time for those who try to replace fanaticism for God with evangelical atheism. In short - a great read for believers and nonbelievers alike.

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Sheds light upon our beautiful Bonobos!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, we are not alone in having a sense or morality in the world. Bonobos are clearly very intelligent and should be cared for and protected (as the rest of the animals on this earth should be) by us humans.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Bonobo and the Atheist?

The stories of the Bonobos lives were amazing as they showed that Bonobos have a sense of Morality.

What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Allowed me to listen whilst on the go. Perfect narration.

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Disappointing

I had very high hopes for this book - and found them sorely disappointed. Frans de Waal is no doubt a great expert on animal behaviour and has countless interesting observations and anecdotes to draw from. Sadly he is not a deep and careful thinker, and has a tendency to over-generalize and jump to unjustified and unjustifiable conclusions. A typical example might be the passage where the author blames "science" and "scientists" for the atrocities committed during Hitler's holocaust. Not only is this utter nonsense, it is insulting to scientists. And that is not an isolated example of dubious assertions made in this book in areas where the author is hardly an authority being presented as fact. All this in order to investigate the "biological mystery" of pro-social behaviours, which really isn't that hard to understand at all. (If creatures need to reproduce to persist down the generations, and if reproducing is easier in groups where we watch each others backs rather than stabbing them, the evolution of pro-social behaviours is hardly unexpected. What's the big deal?) All in all a laboured and unconvincing treatment of a non-problem, and the odd interesting story about our closest relatives was not enough to save it. I could not make it past the first half of the book. If you are interested in this sort of subject, you are likely to be much better off with Steven Pinker's "Better Angels of Our Nature".

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