The Naked Ape

Name: The Naked Ape
ISBN: 9787532784776

德斯蒙德·莫利斯Shanghai Translation Publishing House2021

4.0

Word count: 147K words
Chapters: 16
Series: The Naked Ape Trilogy
ISBN: 9787532784776

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Summary

The Naked Ape is the breakout 1967 book by the British zoologist and biological anthropologist Desmond Morris and the first volume of the Naked Ape Trilogy. From the perspective of comparative zoology and biological anthropology, it observes humans as the only one of the 193 living species of apes and monkeys that is naked: the other 192 are covered in hair, and only humans are not. Morris therefore proposes that instead of calling ourselves Homo sapiens, we should honestly admit we are the naked ape. The book discusses in turn human origins, sexual behavior, child-rearing, exploration and play, fighting and territory, feeding and eating, and grooming and comforting, placing modern human behavior within the coordinates of evolutionary history. The author argues that basic human behavioral patterns were gradually fixed over the long evolution from tree-dwelling ape to ground-dwelling ape to hunting ape; many impulses and predicaments of today's urban life can be traced to the survival strategies of ancient ancestors. The book is accessible in style and vivid in metaphor, yet rigorous in argument—a classic that reads both as popular science and as a bestseller. On publication it sparked fierce controversy; some churches denounced it as heresy, and copies were confiscated and even burned, yet its influence only grew. It has been translated into many languages, with global sales in the tens of millions, and in 2012 New Scientist listed it among the popular science books that changed the world. This edition is translated by He Daokuan and includes the translator's preface, the author's 1994 preface, and chapter bibliographies.

Editor's review

如果你只打算读一本“把人当动物来看”的书，那就是这本。《裸猿》初版于1967年，五十多年过去，基因科学突飞猛进，书里个别知识细节难免显得陈旧，甚至连作者本人在修订时也固执地只改了一个人口数字。但它的价值从来不在于提供最新数据，而在于提供一副眼光：把西装领带、香水口红、办公室政治、明星崇拜、邻里纠纷统统还原为灵长类的行为模式，读者会突然发现，很多“人之常情”其实有更古老的来处。莫利斯的写法值得称道。他不摆学术架子，例子鲜活，比喻辛辣，读起来毫无门槛；可他给出的每一个判断又都有动物行为学的观察作底。这也是它当年既被教会痛骂、又被大众抢读的原因：它冒犯了人类的自尊，却满足了对自己的好奇。上海译文版沿用何道宽先生译笔，术语准确、行文流畅，并保留作者1994年序与各章文献，既适合普通读者通读，也方便按主题回查。作为“裸猿三部曲”的开篇，《裸猿》立起了整套书的坐标，读完它，再读《人类动物园》和《亲密行为》会顺畅得多。

Who it's for

A good fit for

对人类行为、进化论和动物学感兴趣的普通读者
社会学、心理学、生物学相关专业的学生与教师
喜欢《自私的基因》《枪炮、病菌与钢铁》这类跨学科科普的人
写作、广告、设计等需要理解人类动机的从业者

Not a good fit for

希望读到严格当代生物学结论、不接受任何过时案例的读者
对“人类只是动物”这一立场本能反感、不愿被挑战观念的读者
只想读轻松故事、不接受论述型非虚构的读者

Reading tips

先读绪论和第八章，抓住作者“人是裸猿”的核心立场，再回头逐章细读。
把每一章当作“行为清单”来读：读到性、育儿、领地等主题时，回想自己身边的例子。
留意书中1960年代的案例与数据，读时可与当代研究对照，区分“视角仍成立”与“事实已过时”。
读完可接着读《人类动物园》《亲密行为》，三本合起来才是完整的人类行为图景。

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

Translator's Preface to the Second Edition
Translator's Preface to the First Edition
Author's Acknowledgments
Author's Preface (1994)
Introduction
Chapter 1 Origins
Chapter 2 Sexual Behavior
Chapter 3 Child-Rearing
Chapter 4 Exploration and Play
Chapter 5 Fighting: Status and Territory
Chapter 6 Feeding and Eating
Chapter 7 Grooming and Comforting
Chapter 8 Humans and Animals
Chapter Bibliographies
Selected Bibliography
Translator's Afterword

FAQ

《裸猿》这个书名是什么意思？

莫利斯指出，现存猿猴约有193种，其中192种全身长毛，只有人类这一种全身裸露。因此他把人类称作“裸猿”，主张把人放回动物界来研究，而不是当作脱离自然的特殊物种。

这本书是“禁书”吗？为什么会有争议？

《裸猿》1967年出版后，因把人类行为还原为动物本能、讨论性行为与攻击性等议题，遭到一些教会与保守人士强烈反对，出现过书籍被没收、焚毁的情况。但它同时成为世界性畅销书，争议反而扩大了它的影响。

书里的科学知识过时了吗？

部分具体数据和案例来自上世纪六十年代，随着分子生物学与古人类学发展已有更新。但全书的核心视角——从进化与比较行为学理解人类——仍具启发性。1994年作者修订时也只更新了人口数字，正文基本未改。

“裸猿三部曲”要按顺序读吗？

建议从《裸猿》读起，它奠定全书框架；《人类动物园》讨论现代都市中人的困境，《亲密行为》聚焦亲密关系的生物学根源。三本各自独立成书，但按顺序读脉络最清楚。

这个版本是谁翻译的？

上海译文出版社2021年版由何道宽翻译。何道宽是深圳大学教授、资深翻译家，长期从事文化学、人类学与传播学研究，译有《理解媒介》《交流的无奈》等作品。

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About the author

德斯蒙德·莫利斯 Author

Desmond Morris is a British zoologist and popular science writer, best known for bringing the perspective of animal behaviour into the study of human society. His writing centres on the biological roots of human behaviour, combining primatological research and evolutionary observation with everyday social phenomena in an accessible and thought-provoking style. His representative works include The Naked Ape, The Human Zoo, Intimate Behaviour, The Naked Man, and the three-volume Naked Ape trilogy, which are generally shelved in Chinese bookshops under social science and foreign literature. Morris examines human sexuality, territory, social life and the body through an animal lens, with candid views that often spark debate. His books are widely read as an introduction to the biological foundations of human behaviour. Public information is limited, so this note relies only on the themes and common categories of his works.