A book by one of the best-known primatologists in the world, Frans de Waal, explores the evolutionary origins of human nature—its duality and its biological roots.
De Waal examines four key aspects of our nature—our drive for power, our need for sex, our tendency toward acts of violence, and our displays of kindness—and, based on many years of observing great apes, shows that all of this applies to them as well.
In his work, he offers arguments for viewing humans as social animals—“the bipolar ape,” equally reminiscent of aggressive, competition-driven chimpanzees and empathetic pleasure-seeking bonobos. Without ignoring the base sides of human nature, De Waal pays special attention to its positive, moral manifestations—and to how these two sides combine and complement each other, being equally important for the evolution of our species and for the survival of civilization as a whole.