Planet of the Apes and Philosophy
Page 1
These Apes Appreciate Planet of the Apes and Philosophy
“Who knew that one movie could inspire such fascinating discourse? A thought-provoking collection from some of the brightest minds of our time.”
— VANESSA WOODS, bestselling author of Bonobo Handshake and The Genius of Dogs
“In this entertaining and provocative book, philosophers tackle the implications of the 1968 movie Planet of the Apes and its many sequels which keep on coming. The book’s subtitle, Great Apes Think Alike, says it all, regarding not only ‘hairy’ apes but also the apes most in need of reflection—humans.”
— JEFFREY H. SCHWARTZ, author of The Red Ape.
“An engaging and accessible discussion of the myriad scientific, ethical, political, psychological, and artistic questions raised by the Planet of the Apes franchise, told with a knowledgeableness and dry humor sure to delight fans.”
— EMILIE RAYMOND, author of From My Cold Dead Hands: Charlton Heston and American Politics
“Even though apes aren’t monkeys, it’s still true that this book is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.”
— ELLIOTT SOBER, author of Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards?
“A fascinating and multifaceted tour of the radiant hopes and worst fears about humanity and its origins that Planet of the Apes evokes in everyone.”
— IAN TATTERSALL, author of Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins
“If a few intelligent dinosaurs had survived their big extinction event, they might well be surprised and alarmed by the strange development whereby mammals took center stage—they seemed so small, weak, and insignificant. From being the planet of the dinosaurs Earth has become the planet of the apes. The Planet of the Apes movies draw out the arbitrariness of the current arrangements of world power among species. The naked ape has become the nuclear ape, but she’s still an ape—a creature of some absurdity to other proud and ancient species. A stellar cast of ape philosophers has given us Planet of the Apes and Philosophy, proving that there may after all be something to be said for the human ape. A philosophical dinosaur might now revise his opinion of those simian upstarts: these parvenus can think!”
— COLIN MCGINN, author of The Power of Movies: How Screen and Mind Interact
“Whether you came for the apes and stayed for the philosophy, or came for the philosophy and stayed for the apes, either way this book is an absorbing read.”
— SUSAN SCHNEIDER, editor, Science Fiction and Philosophy
“This may be the best book on this topic ever written. If you’re like me, once you pick it up you may never put it down. What a read!”
— MATT TOLMACH, producer, The Amazing Spider Man
“We can’t know what Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, or Hume would have made of the rising of the apes, but we do have Planet of the Apes and Philosophy—not only a terrific read but highly relevant to urgent issues of our time.”
— DALE JAMIESON, author of Ethics and the Environment
“John Huss has corralled a tantalizing collection of highly original essays. Planet of the Apes makes an ideal springboard for these philosophers to dive into the morass of research, chimp consciousness, morality, and ethics. Anyone who takes movies—and the plight of animals—seriously will thoroughly enjoy Planet of the Apes and Philosophy.”
— ELIZABETH HESS, author, Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human
“This book is a must, not only for Planet of the Apes fans, but for anyone interested in what it means to be a primate. Fascinating and thought provoking. A great read!”
— RICK JAFFA AND AMANDA SILVER, screenwriters of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes
and Philosophy
Popular Culture and Philosophy®Series Editor: George A. Reisch
VOLUME 1 Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing (2000)
VOLUME 2 The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer (2001)
VOLUME 3 The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)
VOLUME 4 Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (2003)
VOLUME 5 The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (2003)
VOLUME 9 Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004)
VOLUME 12 Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (2005)
VOLUME 13 Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way (2005)
VOLUME 19 Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think! (2006)
VOLUME 24 Bullshit and Philosophy: Guaranteed to Get Perfect Results Every Time (2006)
VOLUME 25 The Beatles and Philosophy: Nothing You Can Think that Can’t Be Thunk (2006)
VOLUME 26 South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating (2007)
VOLUME 30 Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene! (2007)
VOLUME 31 Johnny Cash and Philosophy: The Burning Ring of Truth (2008)
VOLUME 33 Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? (2008)
VOLUME 34 iPod and Philosophy: iCon of an ePoch (2008)
VOLUME 35 Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008)
VOLUME 36 The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy: I Link Therefore I Am (2008)
VOLUME 37 The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (2008)
VOLUME 38 Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive (2009)
VOLUME 39 Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life (2009) Edited by Erin McKenna and Scott L. Pratt
VOLUME 41 Stephen Colbert and Philosophy: I Am Philosophy (And So Can You!) (2009) Edited by Aaron Allen Schiller
VOLUME 42 Supervillains and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil Is Its Own Reward (2009) Edited by Ben Dyer
VOLUME 43 The Golden Compass and Philosophy: God Bites the Dust (2009) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison
VOLUME 44 Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed (2009) Edited by Scott Calef
VOLUME 45 World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King (2009) Edited by Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger
Volume 46 Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
Volume 47 Anime and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
VOLUME 48 The Red Sox and Philosophy: Green Monster Meditations (2010) Edited by Michael Macomber
VOLUME 49 Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy: New Life for the Undead (2010) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad
VOLUME 50 Facebook and Philosophy: What’s on Your Mind? (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
VOLUME 51 Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game (2010) Edited by Ted Richards
VOLUME 52 Manga and Philosophy: Fullmetal Metaphysician (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Adam Barkman
VOLUME 53 Martial Arts and Philosophy: Beating and Nothingness (2010) Edited by Graham Priest and Damon Young
VOLUME 54 The Onion and Philosophy: Fake News Story True, Alleges Indignant Area Professor (2010) Edited by Sharon M. Kaye
VOLUME 55 Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside (2010) Edited by Courtland Lewis and Paula Smithka
VOLUME 56 Dune and Philosophy: Weirding Way of the Mentat (2011) Edited by Jeffery Nicholas
VOLUME 57 Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United (2011) Edited by Jim Berti and Durrell Bowman
VOLUME 58 Dexter and Philosophy: Mind over Spatter (2011) Edited by Richard Greene, George A. Reisch, and Rachel Robison-Greene
VOLUME
59 Halo and Philosophy: Intellect Evolved (2011) Edited by Luke Cuddy
VOLUME 60 SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy: Soaking Up Secrets Under the Sea! (2011) Edited by Joseph J. Foy
VOLUME 61 Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy: The Footprints of a Gigantic Mind (2011) Edited by Josef Steiff
VOLUME 62 Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die For (2011) Edited by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein
VOLUME 63 Philip K. Dick and Philosophy: Do Androids Have Kindred Spirits? (2011) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
VOLUME 64 The Rolling Stones and Philosophy: It’s Just a Thought Away (2012) Edited by Luke Dick and George A. Reisch
VOLUME 65 Chuck Klosterman and Philosophy: The Real and the Cereal (2012) Edited by Seth Vannatta
VOLUME 66 Neil Gaiman and Philosophy: Gods Gone Wild! (2012) Edited by Tracy L. Bealer, Rachel Luria, and Wayne Yuen
VOLUME 67 Breaking Bad and Philosophy: Badder Living through Chemistry (2012) Edited by David R. Koepsell and Robert Arp
VOLUME 68 The Walking Dead and Philosophy: Zombie Apocalypse Now (2012) Edited by Wayne Yuen
VOLUME 69 Curb Your Enthusiasm and Philosophy: Awaken the Social Assassin Within (2012) Edited by Mark Ralkowski
VOLUME 70 Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom (2012) Edited by Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox
VOLUME 71 The Catcher in the Rye and Philosophy: A Book for Bastards, Morons, and Madmen (2012) Edited by Keith Dromm and Heather Salter
VOLUME 72 Jeopardy! and Philosophy: What Is Knowledge in the Form of a Question? (2012) Edited by Shaun P. Young
VOLUME 73 The Wire and Philosophy: This America, Man (2013) Edited by David Bzdak, Joanna Crosby, and Seth Vannatta
VOLUME 74 Planet of the Apes and Philosophy: Great Apes Think Alike (2013) Edited by John Huss
IN PREPARATION:
The Good Wife and Philosophy (2013) Edited by Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray and Robert Arp
Psych and Philosophy (2013) Edited by Robert Arp
Boardwalk Empire and Philosophy (2013) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene
Futurama and Philosophy (2013) Edited by Courtland Lewis and Shaun P. Young
Ender’s Game and Philosophy (2013) Edited by D.E. Wittkower and Lucinda Rush
Frankenstein and Philosophy (2013) Edited by Nicolas Michaud
How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy (2014) Edited by Lorenzo von Matterhorn
Jurassic Park and Philosophy (2014) Edited by Nicolas Michaud
For full details of all Popular Culture and Philosophy® books, visit www.opencourtbooks.com.
Popular Culture and Philosophy®
Planet of the Apes
and Philosophy
Great Apes Think Alike
Edited by
JOHN HUSS
OPEN COURT
Chicago
Volume 74 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy®, edited by George A. Reisch
To order books from Open Court, call toll-free 1-800-815-2280, or visit our website at www.opencourtbooks.com.
Open Court Publishing Company is a division of Carus Publishing Company.
Copyright © 2013 by Carus Publishing Company
First printing 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, a division of Carus Publishing Company, 70 East Lake Street, Suite 300, Chicago, Illinois 60601.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Planet of the apes and philosophy : great apes think alike / edited by John Huss
pages cm. — (Popular culture and philosophy ; v. 74)
ISBN 978-0-8126-9827-5 1. Planet of the apes films—History and criticism. 2. Human-animal relationships. I. Huss, John, 1963- editor of compilation.
PN1995.9.P495P49 2013
791.43’72—dc23
2013007597
Contents
Great Ape Revolution
Acknowledgments
Part I. Ape Minds
1.It’s Like He’s Thinking or Something
KRISTIN ANDREWS
2.Just Say No to Speech
SARA WALLER
3.Are Apes Sneaky Enough to Be People?
DON FALLIS
Part II. Ape Science
4.Science’s Crazy Dogma
BERNARD ROLLIN WITH JOHN HUSS
5.Getting a Rise Out of Genetic Engineering
MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI
Part III. Ape Equality
6.Who Comes First, Humans or Apes?
TRAVIS MICHAEL TIMMERMAN
7.Of Apes and Men
JONAS-SÉBASTIEN BEAUDRY
Part IV. Ape Spacetime
8.We Came from Your Future
DAVID L. MORGAN
9.Escape from the Paradox of the Apes
RALPH SHAIN
Part V. Ape Politics
10.Banana Republic
GREG LITTMANN
11.From Twilight Zone to Forbidden Zone
LESLIE DALE FELDMAN
12.The Primate Who Knew Too Much
MICHAEL RUSE
Part VI. Ape Ethics
13.Captive Kin
LORI GRUEN
14.Rise of the Planet of the Altruists
JOHN S. WILKINS
Part VII. Ape Cinema
15.Serkis Act
JOHN HUSS
16.It’s a Madhouse! A Madhouse!
TOM MCBRIDE
17.Inside the Underscore for Planet of the Apes
WILLIAM L. MCGINNEY
Part VIII. Ape Identity
18.Caesar’s Identity Crisis
CHAD TIMM
19.Aping Race, Racing Apes
JASON DAVIS
20.Rise of Being-in-the-World
SHAUN MAY
Part IX. Planet
21.The Last Man
NORVA Y.S. LO AND ANDREW BRENNAN
22.Planet of the Degenerate Monkeys
EUGENE HALTON
References
About the Authors
Index
Great Ape Revolution
JOHN HUSS
Pick a revolution and there’s a Planet of the Apes movie with something to say about it.
The Scientific Revolution? Standing before an Ape Tribunal discussing space travel, Charlton Heston’s George Taylor calls to mind Galileo, who once made the ridiculous claim that the Earth is just another planet, whizzing through space and spinning at an incredible speed. All at once, an affront to science, religion, and common sense. Heresy!
And if Copernicus, Galileo, and ultimately Newton dispatched us from our place at the center of the universe, surely the Darwinian Revolution finished the job, toppling us humans from our place at the pinnacle of evolution. This is exactly what Planet of the Apes, beginning with Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel, took to its logical extreme—in a way only science fiction and philosophical imagination can.
The reboot, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, reminds us that we are in the midst of a Molecular Revolution—with new tools for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, modification of the genomes of humans, apes, and crop plants. It also warns us that with great power comes great responsibility. The consequences of our tinkerings extend well beyond the borders of the human body. To those human chauvinists who fail to recognize that we share this planet with other species, this is your wake-up call.
The original film, Planet of the Apes, came out in 1968, in the wake of the Summer of Love. If you have any doubt that the filmmakers were in the grips of the Sexual Revolution, just take a look at this book’s cover. When I see such interspecies erotica, I remember what philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe once said: “You might as well accept any sexual goings-on, if you accept contraceptive intercourse.” Whether that argument can get us over the species line is another matter.
Political revolutions? W
hen Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was released, it was easy to see in it a refracted image of the Watts Riots, and race riots erupting in Los Angeles, Newark, and other cities. Eric Greene has called the Planet of the Apes series “an American Myth” and an allegory for race relations, but the movies are not only an American myth: they have resonated outside of America as well. They seem to hold a mirror up to us, without fully dictating what gets reflected back, freeing us up to describe what we see without the cultural and political baggage of our world. To take one example, once the revolution in Tahrir Square had settled into making a transition to a new elected government, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi used Planet of the Apes as an allegory for, well, it’s hard to say exactly what, but here he is quoted in Time magazine:
I remember a movie. Which one? Planet of the Apes. . . .When the big monkey, he was head of the supreme court I think . . . and there was a big scientist working for him, cleaning things, has been chained there. It was the Planet of the Apes after the destructive act of a big war, and atomic bombs. . . . The scientist was asking him to do something. . . . “Don’t forget you are a monkey,” he tells him, “Don’t ask me about this dirty work.” What did the big ape, the monkey say? He said, “You’re human, you did it to yourself.” That’s the conclusion. Can we do something better for ourselves? I saw it thirty years ago. That is the role of the art.
I don’t fully understand what President Morsi said, but I agree with him. I too saw Planet of the Apes some thirty years ago. And whatever else he may have been talking about, President Morsi could just as easily have been discussing philosophy. We who have written this book can all attest to the proposition that philosophy is dirty work.
Chained to our desks, we try our utmost to clean up a messy reality and make it comprehensible and rational, first to ourselves, and then to others. We start from premises no Planet of the Apes fan would deny. Then we ascend, through reason, to conclusions that no one but a Planet of the Apes fan will accept. But that’s only one job of the philosopher. The other job is to listen, to be open to the responses of others, to learn.