Minds I've Met: From Denying to Embracing the Inner Lives of Animals
Oct 2026 · Granta Books
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Over the last five decades, how we think about animals has undergone a seismic change. And with it, so too has how we think about ourselves, and our place in the animal kingdom.
For decades, scientists viewed animals as little more than automatons - creatures running on instinct, lacking in intelligence. It was, for Frans de Waal, a period of 'anthropodenial', in which scientists practiced a deliberate blindness to the human-like characteristics of other animals or the animal-like characteristics of humans. Instead, Homo sapiens remained at the top the pyramid, despite the growing evidence that the traits that marked us as 'special' - sentience, self-awareness and empathy, cultural and social behaviour - were repeatedly being found among other animals.
From the reconciliatory kisses of chimpanzees and the politics of elephants to the three-inch fish that can recognise itself in a mirror, Minds I've Met is an inside account of the discoveries that changed the way we view the animal mind, revealing their advanced cognitive abilities and their emotional lives. Combining memoir with a history of science and a celebration of the animals, Frans de Waal charts the breakthroughs - his own and those of the wider community - which have brought humans ever closer to the rest of the animal world.
For decades, scientists viewed animals as little more than automatons - creatures running on instinct, lacking in intelligence. It was, for Frans de Waal, a period of 'anthropodenial', in which scientists practiced a deliberate blindness to the human-like characteristics of other animals or the animal-like characteristics of humans. Instead, Homo sapiens remained at the top the pyramid, despite the growing evidence that the traits that marked us as 'special' - sentience, self-awareness and empathy, cultural and social behaviour - were repeatedly being found among other animals.
From the reconciliatory kisses of chimpanzees and the politics of elephants to the three-inch fish that can recognise itself in a mirror, Minds I've Met is an inside account of the discoveries that changed the way we view the animal mind, revealing their advanced cognitive abilities and their emotional lives. Combining memoir with a history of science and a celebration of the animals, Frans de Waal charts the breakthroughs - his own and those of the wider community - which have brought humans ever closer to the rest of the animal world.
Over the last five decades, how we think about animals has undergone a seismic change. And with it, so too has how we think about ourselves, and our place in the animal kingdom.
For decades, scientists viewed animals as little more than automatons - creatures running on instinct, lacking in inte...
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About the author
Frans de Waal is the author of the New York Times bestseller Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Teach Us about Ourselves, and Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender, among many other books. Named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, he was the emeritus C. H. Candler Professor of Psychology at Emory University and emeritus Distinguished Professor at the University of Utrecht. He died in 2024.
Frans de Waal is the author of the New York Times bestseller Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Teach Us about Ourselves, and Different: What Apes Can Teach Us About Gender, among many other books. Named one of Time's 100 Most Influe...
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