Commonly, political theorists begin with considerations of human nature. If you’re going to arrange human beings, then you need to know what kind of creatures you’re dealing with. If they’re violent and aggressive, then you would arrange them one way. If they’re basically cooperative, then you would proceed much differently.
It’s because of this that I have read a fair amount about chimpanzees. We can learn a lot about humans by studying chimps. We can see the building blocks of human behavior: our social dynamics, our politics, our morality. This is not to suggest that chimps are moral, but there is a code of conduct in chimp groups that is quite sophisticated and impressive. As I have said, the closer we look at animals, the smarter they get.
I am thoroughly enjoying the Netflix miniseries Chimp Empire. It is fun to watch what I have read about; the video footage is astounding. And the documentarians have done sound work. The miniseries is responsibly written and what one sees and hears in the documentary is scientifically solid.
Worth checking out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjgL7Pum
