Dialogues on the Human Ape

Laurent Dubreuil is professor of comparative literature, Romance studies, and cognitive science at Cornell University. His many books include The Intellective Space (Minnesota, 2015).Sue Savage-Rumbaugh was senior scientist at the Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary and is co-chair president of the Bonobo Hope initiative.

• ContentsForewordPrelude1. On Animals and Apes2. On Dialogue and Consciousness3. On the Flavors of Consciousness4. On Language and Apes5. On Free WillAnnex: A Timeline of Ape Language Research

"These dialogues provide unique insight into ape language research. Stimulating language in apes is too ramified to be controlled intellectually or restricted to a laboratory. It requires spontaneity, taking participants beyond the known. Even communicating the work requires spontaneity, for the intellect does not know what happened. You will be amazed at what these dialogues reveal about humanness beyond humanity."-PÄr Segerdahl, Uppsala University"Dialogues on the Human Ape demolishes the simple human/animal dichotomy and the idealization that only humans ‘have’ language, as though language is some kind of all-or-none essence. These compelling conversations between Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Laurent Dubreuil will open minds and challenge assumptions about what it means to be a human ape."-Terrence W. Deacon, University of California, Berkeley"This book appears in an important series on Post-humanities, so academics and researchers in that field would certainly find much value in this volume as well. The book is intellectually and emotionally engaging, well written, and nicely organized."-ASEBL Journal"The book explores the continuities between the ape and human minds, addressing why language matters to consciousness, free will and the formation of the self."-Cornell Chronicle