Planet of the Apes and Philosophy
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LORI GRUEN teaches at Wesleyan University and writes about animals and ethics. She has documented the history of the first one hundred chimpanzees in the US
EUGENE HALTON is a harmonica player and guerilla philosopher who teaches in the sociology department of the University of Notre Dame. His books include The Meaning of Things (co-authored, 1981), Meaning and Modernity (1986), Bereft of Reason (1995), and The Great Brain Suck (2008). He has just completed a book on pragmatism in the twentieth-first century. Hopefully it will still provide useful guidance after the Great Ape Revolution.
JOHN HUSS is a songwriter and philosopher who teaches at The University of Akron. His other works include Lipchitz (co-authored with the John Huss Moderate Combo), Johnny Cash and Philosophy: The Burning Ring of Truth (co-edited with David Werther), and Use Your Head (co-authored with Loch Phillipps and Lee Skaife). He still can feel the shock of seeing the Statue of Liberty waist deep in sand on the TV in Ricky Lesser’s basement. See? The revolution did happen on television.
GREG LITTMANN has written on evolutionary epistemology, philosophy of logic, The Big Bang Theory, Breaking Bad, Doctor Who, Dune, Ender’s Game, A Game of Thrones, Ridley Scott, Terminator, and The Walking Dead. He’s a member of the community of tall, shaved chimpanzees with big noses, also known as Homo sapiens, and teaches philosophy at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
NORVA Y.S. LO is a senior lecturer in Philosophy at La Trobe University, Melbourne, who has written on ethics, environmental philosophy, and the philosophy of David Hume. She is particularly interested in movies that explore the dark side of human nature but equally those that inspire cross-species friendships (see this book’s front cover).
SHAUN MAY lives in London where he’s currently finishing a PhD applying Heidegger’s philosophy to humor. He’s also a theater director and producer who specializes in doing odd shows in weird spaces—his most critically acclaimed show being an opera in an Ikea store. Like Caesar, he’s much better at solving the Lucas Tower than you would expect from looking at him.
TOM MCBRIDE has taught at Beloit College for nearly forty percent of a century. He is Professor of English and Keefer Professor of Humanities. Along with Ron Nief he’s the co-creator of The Annual Beloit College Mindset List and co-author of The Mindset Lists of American History (2011). He’s written on Shakespeare, Conan Doyle, Raymond Carver, and Saul Bellow. When asked, he denies that Dr. Zaius reminds him of college deans he has known.
WILLIAM L. MCGINNEY teaches Music History at the University of North Texas. He has written on the film music of Aaron Copland, the music of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and science-fiction movie scores. Although he has never met a talking ape, as a child he dreamed of growing up to be a scholar and scientist like Dr. Cornelius.
DAVID L. MORGAN received his PhD in theoretical particle physics from William and Mary, and his research has appeared in Physical Review and the Astrophysical Journal. He is the recipient of a Sloane/EST commission for the play “The Osiander Preface.” When not devoting time to thinking about space he devotes space to thinking about time.
MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI is an evolutionary biologist and a philosopher of science at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His latest cogitations can be found in Answers for Aristotle: How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to A More Meaningful Life (2012). As a biologist he has worked on plants, not apes, but as a member of the Order Primates, he feels qualified to pontificate about them anyway.
BERNARD E. ROLLIN is the author of eighteen books including The Frankenstein Syndrome (1995) and Animal Rights and Human Morality (1992), and co-editor of Harley Davidson and Philosophy: Full Throttle Aristotle (2006). He is University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Colorado State University, where he is also University Bioethicist. His areas of research include animal ethics, animal pain, and animal consciousness. Having testified before Congress on animal research, he knows what it’s like to be Taylor on trial.
MICHAEL RUSE teaches philosophy and film at Florida State University, and is founding editor of the journal Biology and Philosophy. Although he has written a number of books on philosophy and evolution, including Homosexuality: A Philosophical Inquiry (1988), Darwinism and Its Discontents (2008), and Science and Spirituality: Making Room for Faith in the Age of Science (2010), deep down he would rather like to be a bonobo.
RALPH SHAIN teaches philosophy at Missouri State University and wrote his dissertation on the philosophy of time. He specializes in Continental philosophy and contributed a chapter to Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed (2009) on the struggle for recognition called “Your Time Is Gonna Come.” When not devoting space to thinking about time he devotes time to thinking about space.
CHAD WILLIAM TIMM is an assistant professor of education at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. He has written on radical education, Axis POWs in Iowa, and popular culture and philosophy, including The Hunger Games. While attempting to solve the Lucas Tower puzzle in less than thirty seconds he experienced an identity crisis, realizing he was destined to lead junior faculty in a global ape revolution of their own.
TRAVIS MICHAEL TIMMERMAN is finishing his PhD in philosophy at Syracuse University. He specializes in ethics and death, but only because studying the Planet of the Apes series is not properly recognized as a philosophical discipline. When not reading or writing philosophy, he eagerly awaits Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
SARA WALLER is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Montana State University, where she studies animal minds and analyzes the vocalizations of dolphins, coyotes, wolves, and feral cats. She thinks that speech, language, and making noise in general have a lot to do with ensuring fair and just treatment on Planet of the Humans and Other Critters as well as on the Planet of the Apes.
JOHN S. WILKINS has a PhD in history and philosophy of science from the University of Melbourne, where he is an honorary (and jolly good) fellow, and teaches at the University of Sydney. He has published a book on the history of species concepts, and has another on classification coming out this year. He is currently at work on yet another book exploring submission behaviors, threat stares, and dominance hierarchies in philosophy departments.
Index
abortion, selective, 160
Abrahams, Mort, 245
Academy Awards (Oscars), 193, 194, 198, 200, 201
acting, 193, 194, 197–99, 201
Adam and Eve, 148, 149
Adorno, Theodor W., 216
alpha males, 174
Alpha Omega Bomb, 287–291
Andreasen, Robin, 249
animal liberation, 85; see also Singer, Peter
animals: behavior, 8; communication, 8–11, 42–43, 167, 174–75; Heidegger on, 257; human relations with, 271; intelligence, 21; moral status of, 67–82; pain, 49–50; research, 43, 47–48; thought, 5–7
Anscombe, Elizabeth, ix–x
anthropic cosmological principle, 160
anthropocentrism, 270–71
anti-hero, 224
anti-miscegenation laws, 250
anti-Semitism, 160
Ape City, 125, 131, 137, 266, 271
Appiah, Kwame Anthony, 253
Arab Spring, x
Aranha, Caroline, 55, 237, 239
Aristotle, 85, 293; ethics, 59–60; logic, 117–18, 120
Armando, 29, 87, 103, 291
Atwood, Margaret, 212
Bambi, 143
Barrow, J.D., 160
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (movie), ix, 95; and race, 251, 252; anti-speciesist message, 81, 248, 290
Baylis, François, 57, 61–63
belligerence, 146, 151
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (movie), 86, 250; annihilation in, 253, 267, 269; deceit in, 30; Malthusian aspects, 285–86; mutants in, 29, 95, 287; muteness in, 25; Nova in, 32; telepathy in, 88,
287; time travel in, 99; post-apocalyptic aspects, 151
Bentham, Jeremy, 81
Beverly Hillbillies, 150
biological essentialism, 247
biological realism, 247
Boulle, Pierre, ix, 27, 30, 32, 69, 111
Brave New World, 212, 289
Brent, 25, 29, 99, 151, 276
Bright Eyes, 17, 20, 150, 233
Caesar, 53–60, 177–189, 231–243; Andy Serkis as, 193–201; autonomy of, 172; confinement of, 168, 169, 171; deceptive ability, 30; escape of, 175; genetic enhancement of, 53–60; identity crisis of, 231–243; intelligence, 16, 17, 20, 87; leadership, 81, 85, 103, 106; moral aspects, 94, 177–189; privilege of, 273; signing of, 3, 8, 10, 23; rise of, 255–262; speaking ability, 19
Cage, John, 218–19
Cain, 284
Carroll, Noël, 220
cave, 147, 148, 149, 151, 155
censorship, 129–130, 134, 270
Chambers, John, 200–01, chimpanzees, 30, 177–78, 195, 297; captive, 167–176; circus, 103; digital, 193–201; research on, 19–20, 36–38, 92; folk psychology of, 9; genetic enhancement of, 53–59; genome, 249; human friendship with, 84; language, 258, 266; mirror test, 234; moral psychology, 177–189; retirement, 300; sex, 155; speech, 23, 106; status in Ape society, 125, 128, 133–35, 139
Chimpsky, Nim, 92, 258
Civil Rights Movement, 214
civilization, 31, 135, 142, 147, 149, 163, 190, 292; collapse of, 281–86
class, warrior, 132, 137–138
Cold War, 155, 216, 225, 269, 273
compassion, 60, 94, 132
competition, 146, 188–89
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, x, 68, 87, 81, 106, 246, 254, 291
consciousness, 47, 52, 88; self-, 266, 267, 270, 281
Copernicus, ix, 196
Cornelius, Dr., 73–74, 116, 134, 147; in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (movie), 249; in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (movie), 74, 101, 106, 116; in Planet of the Apes (book), 112; in Planet of the Apes (movie), 131–35, 140, 147, 155, 205, 260; and Sacred Scrolls, 265, 282; and reverse evolution, 131, 134, 147, 155, 26
Darwin, Charles, 11, 50,, 180–82, 184
Davidson, Donald, 5
Davis, Sammy, Jr., 245, 252
Dawkins, Richard, 156
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 57
democracy, 141–42, 147, 224, 225
Dennett, Daniel, 28, 35
deontology, 59
Descartes, René, 5, 33, 34, 50, 51, 232, 238, 259
deus ex machina, 287–89
devil, 143, 265, 282
de Waal, Frans, 19, 179
Dixon, Dr. Lewis, 30, 36, 38, 83, 291
DNA, 156–57, 249, 287, 290
Dodge, 44
Douglas, Donna, 150
Drysdale, Sonny, 150
Earth, ix, 100, 111, 265–67, 272–77, 280–81, 285, 290–92
egoism, rational, 178
education, 16, 128–29, 136
Einstein, Albert, 44, 99–102, 112
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 290
endangered species, 175
epistemology, 246; of ignorance, 246
Eubulides, 55
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (movie), 101–03, 121, 137, 175, 260, 266; backward time travel in, 111, 113, 116, 118, 119; parallel timelines in, 106, 107; plot, 113
Evans, Maurice, 200, 214, 254
ethics, 58; chauvinist, 269; consequentialist, 58; deontological, 59; emotivist, 46–47; environmental, 267, 268; Kantian, 178; virtue, 58, 59–60
evolution, convergent, 182; cultural, 260; heresy of, 131; human, 162, 189; question of progress in, 154, 161; reverse, 135, 146–47, 261; theory of, 131, 135
evolutionary tree, 182
Facebook, xi, 287–89
family, 29, 91–92, 138, 238–39
Fellowship of the Holy Fallout, 151
fertile crescent, 281, 284
Flintstones, 146
Fodor, Jerry, 6, 197
Forbidden Zone, 69, 80, 151, 155, 214, 266, 285, 286
Fouts, Roger, 266
Francione, Gary, 80
Franciscus, James, 151
Franco, James, 77, 193, 198–99
Freud, Sigmund, 237
frontier thesis, 150
Galen, Dr., 139
Galileo Galilei, ix, 49, 196
Garden of Eden, 149
genes, 29, 157, 160, 185, 186; therapy, 157
genetics, 160, 186; and race, 249; counseling, 160; determinism, 185; diversity, 57; engineering, 53, 54, 55, 57; enhancement, 53, 56–57, 61–63, 157, 173, 177
Goldsmith, Jerry, 220–24, 226
Goodman, Nelson, 11–12
gorillas, 33, 125, 127–28, 137, 147, 167; in Ape City, 127, 131–33, 137, 251; silverback, 188
Gould, Dana, 254
Gould, Stephen Jay, 154
Great Ape Project, 267
Green Belt, 145
Greene, Eric, 27, 223, 246
Griffin, Donald, 8
Hasslein, Otto, 89, 95, 102, 103, 116; on the nature of time, 119–120; Curve Theory of time travel, 44–45, 99, 106
Hauser, Marc, 34
Heinlein, Robert, 28
Hess, Elizabeth, 266
Heston, Charlton, 144, 150, 153, 214, 286; balls of, 140; Hobbes, Thomas, 143, 144, 145, 146, 189; Leviathan, 143, 179
Holbrook, Hal, 254
Hollywood, Classical, 219–220; traditional, 216, 223
Homo errans, 282
homosexuality, 160, 185
Honorius, Dr., 129, 131, 135, 140, 196
human nature, 62, 143, 181, 182, 185; John Locke on, 88; pre-Darwinian view of, 180; Rod Serling on, 144, 146, 152; Thomas Hobbes on, 145, 179; Jean-Jacques Rousseau on, 148
humans, 131, 135–36, 141–42, 156, 261; as pinnacle of creation, 182; captive, 168; empathy of, 179; evolution of, 161, 162; future, 268; genetic diversity of, 249; in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 178, 186; lack of soul in, 140; mutant, 151, 267, 268; similarities to other primates of, 183–84; sociobiology of, 158
Hume, C.W., 48
Hume, David, 52, 160; Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, 160
Huxley, Aldous, 289; Brave New World, 212
Icarus, 44
ideological fantasy, 241–43
ideology, 42–43, 241–42; Nazi, 41–42; religious, 43; scientific, 41–52
intelligence, 26; and language, 15, 23; dangerous, 22; instinctive, 280–82; measurement of, 21, 22, 24; octopus, 20; of nature, 280, 283; quotient (IQ), 17, 85, 185
interests, 68, 80; ape, 84, 80; chimpanzee, 171; equal consideration of, 81, 84, 87, 89; group, 83; human, 82, 83, 89, 81; moral weight of, 84; of other species, 95 self-, 178
Jacobs, Arthur P., 200, 245, 252
Jacobs, Steven, 55, 56, 63
Juengst, Eric, 54
Julius, 145
justice, 60, 93, 139, 140; City of, 126–28; social, 253
Kant, Immanuel, 59, 178; Critique of Judgment, 215
Kass, Leon, 61–62
Keepers of the Divine Bomb, 32, 34, 289
Kennedy, John F., 150, 151
Koko, 27, 33, 271
Kubrick, Stanley, 200, 226, 269; 2001: A Space Odyssey, 200, 226, 254
La Gloria, Mexico, 286
Lacan, Jacques, 232–38, 240
Landon, Dodge, 16, 188–89, 257
Landon, John, 44, 87, 136, 146, 148, 152
language, 15–16, 23, 175, 209; and intelligence, 15, 17, 23–24; and mind, 8; and silence, 25; and thought, 5–6; barrier, 18; shared, 3, 4; tyranny of, 16–18
Laurel and Hardy, 151
Lawgiver, The, 143, 290
linguistics, 236
Lloyd Morgan’s Canon, 35
Locke, John, 88, 275
logic, 44–45, 118, 210
logical positivism, 44–46, 52
Long Island, 146, 148
Lovejoy, E.A., 180
Lull, Raimond 180
makeup, 198, 200, 201, 247; digital, 195, 200
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manifest destiny, 150
March of the Wooden Soldiers (movie), 151
Matrix, The (movie franchise), 287
MacDonald, x, 26, 30, 94
McDowall, Roddy, 144, 149, 200
Mead, George Herbert, 290
meaning, 45, 213–220; in music, 213–14, 215, 218–220; and syntax, 258; logical positivist view of, 45; of symbols, 20; semiotic view of, 236–39
Meredith, Burgess, 148
Mérou, Ulysse, 31, 32, 33, 112, 114
Mesopotamia, 284
meta-ethics, 60
metaphysics, speculative, 44
Mill, John Stuart, 8, 58
Mills, Charles W., 251, 252, 253
Milo, Dr., 25, 31, 38, 101
Milo, Baby, 87, 103, 106, 116, 121, 291
minds, 6; and environment, 12; animal, 48, 259; as habitat relation, 290; of nature, 280; problem of other, 6–8; rational, 139
mindreading, 4–5, 8–11, 32–38, 288
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, 18
missing link, 135
modernism, 215–17
Mooney, Paul, 252
Moore, G.E., 207–211
moral considerability, 71–80
moral status, 19, 74–82; of apes, 265–66; of humans, 265
Morsi, Mohamed, x music, instrumental, 213, 215;
modernist, 215–18, 220, 221, 224–27; twelve–tone, 221, 222, 224, 226
mutually assured destruction, 287
Narcissus, 281, 286
Nattiez, Jean-Jacques, 219
neoteny, 279–283, 291–92
New Frontier, 150, 151
New Hollywood, 216
New York, 146, 148, 151, 267, 287
Newton, Sir Isaac, ix, 44; laws of motion of, 107
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 283
Nova, 4, 150, 152, 223; as feral child, 187; communicative capacities of, 4, 10, 18; intelligence of, 24–25, 80; as love interest, 32, 91; death of, 89, 276
nuclear war, 95, 148, 149, 151, 158, 286
nuclear weapons, 62, 156, 273
Nussbaum, Martha, 83
Operation Desert Storm, 284
orangutans, 125, 127, 129–131, 133–35, 137, 139, 147
Oroonoko Indians, 148
Orwell, George, 288–89; Nineteen Eighty-Four (novel), 289