Praise & Reviews

“The perpetual challenge to atheists is that moral behavior requires religion—all that prevents tsunamis of depravity is a deity or two, some nice hymns, and the threat of hellfire and damnation. De Waal shows that human morality is deeply rooted in our primate legacy, long predating the invention of that cultural gizmo called religion. This is an immensely important book by one of our most distinguished thinkers.”

—Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers and Monkeyluv: And Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals

“De Waal's decades of patient work documenting the ‘building blocks’ of morality in other animals has revolutionized not just primatology but moral psychology. By revealing our commonalities with other species, he gives us more compassion for them and also for ourselves. It's impossible to look an ape in the eye and not see oneself, de Waal tells us, and this beautifully written book is one long riveting gaze.”

—Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

“Frans de Waal offers us a wealth of inspiring observations from the animal realm, combined with thoughtful reflections on the evolution of morality. He makes a convincing case for the natural foundations of a secular ethics that is fully independent of religion without being dogmatically against it.”

—Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist monk, scientist, and author of Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill and The Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet

“Frans de Waal's new book carries the important message that human kindness is a biological feature of our species and not something that has to be imposed on us by religious teaching.”

—Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape

Reviews/Excerpts

• A-News Reports ⋅ Recommended Reading: The Bonobo and the Atheist
• New Republic ⋅ Rats who giggle — The new world of animal cognition
• NPR ⋅ Frans de Waal's bottom-up morality: We're not good because of God
• Nature ⋅ A wild empathy
• Wall Street Journal ⋅ The Brains of the Animal Kingdom
• The Daily Beast ⋅ What can animals teach us about our morality?
• The Economist ⋅ In search of the ungodly
• ABC News ⋅ Do we need God to be moral?
• cleveland.com ⋅ Frans de Waal's ‘The Bonobo and the Atheist’ tells what apes can teach us about morals
• The Independent ⋅ Who are you calling a dumb ape?
• Times Higher Education
• Cobra.be ⋅ [Dutch]
• The Guardian ⋅ Behaving like animals: The Bonobo and the Atheist
• The Scientist Magazine
• The Scotsman
• New Scientist ⋅ Tracing the roots of human morality in animals
• Religion Dispatches ⋅ If Apes Could Talk to Atheists
• Scientific American
• Salon ⋅ Do primates practice religion?

Blogs

• NonProphet Status ⋅ Which is the problem: dogmatism or religion?
• Why evolution is true ⋅ Frans de Waal tries to give atheists a good hiding in Salon; Anthony Grayling takes him down
• Temple of the Future ⋅ “Militant Atheism” and Religion — a Response to Frans de Waal
• Tessera ⋅ Are you atheist enough?
• This View of Life ⋅ Primatologist Frans de Waal responds to his new atheist critics
• Natural Right and Biology ⋅ Darwinism, Atheism, & Moderation from Frans de Waal
• Think Christian ⋅ Bonobos, atheists and the source of our moral impulse
• National Catholic Reporter ⋅ Are we hard-wired to be moral beings?
• Crane Reaction
• AEI ⋅ The new anti-atheists
• Parade ⋅ Can Animals Show Kindness?
• the everyday primate ⋅ Bonobos & Apatheists
• Patheos ⋅ The Bonobo and The Creator
• The Brooklyn Rail ⋅ The Way We Weren't

Interviews

• Point of Inquiry ⋅ Frans de Waal — The Bonobo and the Atheist
• Science Friday ⋅ Mama's boys, black sheep, and peacekeepers
• NPR ⋅ Searching for the roots of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’
• Philly.com ⋅ Dutch scientist argues that animals show morality, too
• American Freethought ⋅ Podcast #175 — Frans de Waal (The Bonobo and the Atheist)
• Interfaith Voices ⋅ Finding Our Moral Heritage Among the Primates
• Business Insider ⋅ Primate research shakes up our understanding of morality
• WHYY ⋅ Frans de Waal: Primates, evolution, and morality
• CNN Light Years ⋅ Science Seat: Where morals come from
• The Pod Delusion
• Nautilus ⋅ The Cosmopolitan Ape
• MeetInnovators
• Ideas Roadshow ⋅ On Atheists and Bonobos
• New Books In Big Ideas
• The Human Prospect ⋅ An interview with primate behavior expert Dr. Frans de Waal
• National Geographic
• Environmentally Sound

In order of appearance