Dewall - Animals Have Culture

Animals Do Have Culture

Frans de Waal, renowned primatologist, discusses the lives of animals in comparison

to humans in his book The Ape and the Sushi Master. Informing enthusiasts and newcomers alike, de Waal elaborates closely on the idea of animal culture. The idea that animals have culture has yet to be completely proven. Studies have been done that involve observing primates and determining whether they have culture similar to humans, or whether they are just copy cats and imitate the world around them. De Waal, however, believes that animals are so similar to humans that we can consider their lifestyles and heritage to be composed of their own cultures. Both of the following authors, Whiten and van Schaik, examine issues similar to the ones de Waal discusses. Whiten discusses the idea of a true definition of culture, which is comparable to de Waal’s main argument. Van Schaik addresses the issue of the similar orangutan culture and also illustrates de Waal’s argument by stating the basis of comparison between human culture and animal culture. In this analysis, de Waal’s claim that animals do indeed have culture can be illustrated by examining de Waal’s evidence, connecting his claims, and comparing those thoughts to other authors.

The idea of animal culture has been highly debated since it was first researched hundreds of years ago. De Waal uses several claims from outside sources in his work to

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improve his ethos and help him prove his points. De Waal quotes experimental psychologist, Bennett Galef, who doubts the existence of animal culture, in order to contradict her claim. She states that “In my view, although imitation might introduce some novel behavior into the repertoire of members of a population, through time (probably counted in days) this behavioral novelty would be maintained, modified, or extinguished depending on its effectiveness in acquiring rewards” (de Waal 228). De Waal does not agree with Galef, mainly because he feels...