Planet of the Apes and Philosophy (2 page)

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OLUME
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The Wire and Philosophy: This America, Man
(2013) Edited by David Bzdak, Joanna Crosby, and Seth Vannatta

V
OLUME
74
Planet of the Apes and Philosophy: Great Apes Think Alike
(2013) Edited by John Huss

I
N
P
REPARATION
:

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For full details of all Popular Culture and Philosophy® books, visit
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.

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
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.

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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

Great Ape Revolution

Acknowledgments

Part I. Ape Minds

1.
    
It's Like He's Thinking or Something

K
RISTIN
A
NDREWS

2.
    
Just Say No to Speech

S
ARA
W
ALLER

3.
    
Are Apes Sneaky Enough to Be People?

D
ON
F
ALLIS

Part II. Ape Science

4.
    
Science's Crazy Dogma

B
ERNARD
R
OLLIN WITH
J
OHN
H
USS

5.
    
Getting a Rise Out of Genetic Engineering

M
ASSIMO
P
IGLIUCCI

Part III. Ape Equality

6.
    
Who Comes First, Humans or Apes?

T
RAVIS
M
ICHAEL
T
IMMERMAN

7.
    
Of Apes and Men

J
ONAS
-S
ÉBASTIEN
B
EAUDRY

Part IV. Ape Spacetime

8.
    
We Came from Your Future

D
AVID
L. M
ORGAN

9.
    
Escape from the Paradox of the Apes

R
ALPH
S
HAIN

Part V. Ape Politics

10.
  
Banana Republic

G
REG
L
ITTMANN

11.
  
From
Twilight Zone
to Forbidden Zone

L
ESLIE
D
ALE
F
ELDMAN

12.
  
The Primate Who Knew Too Much

M
ICHAEL
R
USE

Part VI. Ape Ethics

13.
  
Captive Kin

L
ORI
G
RUEN

14.
  
Rise of the Planet of the Altruists

J
OHN
S. W
ILKINS

Part VII. Ape Cinema

15.
  
Serkis Act

J
OHN
H
USS

16.
  
It's a Madhouse! A Madhouse!

T
OM
M
C
B
RIDE

17.
  
Inside the Underscore for
Planet of the Apes

W
ILLIAM
L. M
C
G
INNEY

Part VIII. Ape Identity

18.
  
Caesar's Identity Crisis

C
HAD
T
IMM

19.
  
Aping Race, Racing Apes

J
ASON
D
AVIS

20.
  
Rise of Being-in-the-World

S
HAUN
M
AY

Part IX. Planet

21.
  
The Last Man

N
ORVA
Y.S. L
O AND
A
NDREW
B
RENNAN

22.
  
Planet of the Degenerate Monkeys

E
UGENE
H
ALTON

References

About the Authors

Index

J
OHN
H
USS

P
ick 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? When
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.

As you'll see, we who wrote this book are open to your response. In fact, we invite it. On Facebook. Now. Well, you might want to read a few chapters first.

President Morsi is right.
Planet of the Apes
is art. It stays with us and reminds us: We
are
human. We
did
do this to ourselves. And yes, we
can
do something better, for ourselves and for the other inhabitants of the planet we share.

T
he authors would like to thank all those who helped make this book possible. Sharon Cebula provided editorial suggestions and assistance on a number of chapters. George Reisch offered constructive criticism and editorial guidance. Joanna Trzeciak helped out from the initial stages of the project through the submission of the final manuscript.