ABSTRACT
Throughout the Middle Ages, man, under the guidance of theological leaders, was preoccupied with his immortal soul, with life hereafter, and with the types of ethical behaviors that would win a favored position in the next world. Philosophers decry sterile mechanistic advances by stating that they have failed mankind. This disenchantment stimulates us to reappraise man's relatedness to nature and the animal world. One of the newest additions to the family of multidisciplinary specialties is primatology, barely a decade old. Ten years ago there existed only two centers for the study of primate behavior. There are many in both universities and government institutions; the number of field investigators has quadrupled and continues to increase, and the volume of literature is already unwieldy. Primates are social animals. The social group is the unit, and the individual is a fragment of that unity.
