Why Humans Aren’t Clever Chimps

What distinguishes human beings from animals? Philosophers have tried to answer this question. For Marx, it was people’s unique ability to make tools. For Hobbes, it was people’s irrational (as opposed to rational) desire for power. Both people and animals seek power to ensure their food supply, Hobbes said, but people also seek power because they are vain and love power. Rousseau preferred humanity when it was a little less civilized (i.e., less corrupt), so, for him, the closer to the jungle, the better. But he did posit a few differences: people, unlike animals, have free will; people, unlike animals, can perfect their societies; people fear death, because they can imagine what it is not to be, while animals fear pain, a much narrower fear.