The Arrogant Ape
And A New Way To See Humanity
Published on 6. November 2025
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-1-4087-1772-1 (ISBN)
Description
*A book of the year in the New York Times*
'I wish this book had been published five hundred years ago and been compulsory reading ever since' Jay Griffiths, author of How Animals Heal Us
'A crucial and transformative read' Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast
'Will leave you in awe' Justin Gregg, author of If Nietzsche Were A Narwhal
Most people are certain that humans are the most intelligent, sophisticated, successful species on earth. But what if we're wrong? And what if our arrogant human exceptionalism is leading us to exploit the earth at the expense of other species - and destroy our own world in the process?
In The Arrogant Ape, leading primatologist Christine Webb challenges our belief in human superiority by revealing underappreciated wonders 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. She shows how human exceptionalism has even crept into the sciences, distorting how we study and understand other species. With fresh research into the rich social, emotional and cognitive lives of animals, and compelling stories from all over the world, The Arrogant Ape demonstrates how our belief in our own importance is directly linked to some of the greatest threats against us and our environment - and offers a hopeful, inspiring way forwards.
'I wish this book had been published five hundred years ago and been compulsory reading ever since' Jay Griffiths, author of How Animals Heal Us
'A crucial and transformative read' Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast
'Will leave you in awe' Justin Gregg, author of If Nietzsche Were A Narwhal
Most people are certain that humans are the most intelligent, sophisticated, successful species on earth. But what if we're wrong? And what if our arrogant human exceptionalism is leading us to exploit the earth at the expense of other species - and destroy our own world in the process?
In The Arrogant Ape, leading primatologist Christine Webb challenges our belief in human superiority by revealing underappreciated wonders 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. She shows how human exceptionalism has even crept into the sciences, distorting how we study and understand other species. With fresh research into the rich social, emotional and cognitive lives of animals, and compelling stories from all over the world, The Arrogant Ape demonstrates how our belief in our own importance is directly linked to some of the greatest threats against us and our environment - and offers a hopeful, inspiring way forwards.
Reviews / Votes
Provocative, moving ... deeply felt, searching but rigorous * New Scientist * Excellent * New York Times Book Review * A timely, intelligent and entertaining book that deserves our attention -- Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree I wish this book had been published five hundred years ago and been compulsory reading ever since -- Jay Griffiths, author of How Animals Heal Us A thrilling, disconcerting, ultimately hopeful expose 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 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 Christine Webb's powerful new book is both a carefully crafted unpacking of the errors behind human exceptionalism and a practical guide to how we can unlearn our species arrogance. She draws from her intimate knowledge of great apes and a deep and evidenced empathy for other living beings. Building on the legacy of her mentor, Frans de Waal, Webb's book is a passionate call on us to shape a better world as the 'humble' apes of the future * Melanie Challenger, author of How to be Animal * Inspiring and potentially life-changing. After reading Webb's book, it is hard to think of nonhuman animals in the same way. What makes Webb's account novel and fresh is the sheer wealth of detail that she offers about the capabilities of nonhuman animals, and her use of that detail to support her plea for humility and awe. Her ultimate goal for arrogant apes, including scientists, is resonant. It is nothing less than a re-enchantment of the world -- Cass Sunstein * Democracy Journal *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
558 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4087-1772-1 (9781408717721)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2025
Abacus
€13.99
Available for download
Person
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.