Monday, November 18, 2019, 11:30 AM – 1 PM EST

FRANS DE WAAL, C. H. Candler Professor of Psychology, Emory University, Emeritus; Director, Living Links Center at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emeritus; Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Utrecht

“Mama’s Last Hug: Animal and Human Emotions”

The title of Frans de Waal’s most recent book pays homage to Mama, the alpha female of a famous chimpanzee colony in the Netherlands who died at the age of 59. Her last hug with Professor Jan van Hooff went viral on the Internet. Frans will discuss their encounter and then review evidence for animal emotions, starting with the incredible variety of primate facial expressions. Charles Darwin concluded long ago that if apes use expressions similar to ours under similar circumstances, the underlying emotions are probably similar, too. And it has indeed become increasingly clear that all of “our” emotions can be found in other species. The whole idea that there is just a handful of “basic” or “primary” emotions shared across species (fear, anger, joy), and that all other emotions (jealousy, guilt, love, hope) are uniquely human doesn’t make sense. Although we may have emotions that go deeper or are more varied than in other species, none of them belongs to us alone. Frans will discuss empathy and disgust as examples of emotions as evident in animals as in us ourselves.