The Once and Future "Apeman": Chimeras, Human Evolution, and Disciplinary Coherence
Author(s)
Alter, Joseph S.
Abstract
Many have argued that anthropology, as a four-field discipline, lacks intellectual coherence. Recent developments in the field of biotechnology and the possibility of producing chimeras with recognizable human characteristics make it necessary to think in terms of a new kind of “old” four-field holism. The production of a human/nonhuman chimera raises theoretical questions about the nature of the species barrier in human evolution and about the larger philosophical question of the relationship between humans and nonhuman animals. Engaging with these questions provides critical perspective on the evolution of Homo sapiens and on the relationship between culture and biology in the human past as this past increasingly anticipates the future.
