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Away from ethnocentrism and anthropocentrism: Towards a scientific understanding of “what makes us human”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2010

Christophe Boesch
Christophe Boesch
Affiliation:
Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. boesch@eva.mpg.dehttp://www.eva.mpg.de/primat/staff/boesch/index.html
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Abstract

The quest to understand “what makes us human” has been heading towards an impasse, when comparative psychology compares primarily individuals that are not representative of their species. Captives experience such divergent socioecological niches that they cannot stand for their wild counterparts. Only after removing ethnocentrism and anthropocentrism will we be able to progress in our understanding of “what makes us human.”

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 2-3 , June 2010 , pp. 86 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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