ANIMAL BEHAVIOR SCIENCE AS A SOCIAL-SCIENCE - THE SUCCESS OF THE EMPATHIC APPROACH IN RESEARCH ON APES

Animal behavior science has been practiced traditionally as a natural science and, as such, has had success in studying discrete behaviors o f species representatives. However, methodological, philosophical and ethical problems have plagued animal behavior science for centuries. R esearchers of animal behavior who operate within a natural science par adigm can be limited by their adherence to positivist epistemologies a nd the denial of any emotional connections with their research subject s. In the past three decades a new paradigm, identified here as the em pathic approach, has developed in this field, transcending the limitat ions of traditional approaches. A short description of the work of six ape researchers who employ an empathic approach in their studies illu strates how it is possible to conduct successfully at least some areas of animal behavior science as a social science. Their work is informe d by a phenomenological epistemology, ethnographic methods, and an emp hasis on group cultures and individual personalities as well as specie s characteristics. This approach has produced compelling results of gr eat heuristic value and has also contributed to an emerging ethics of human respect for nonhuman animals and a sense of responsibility and c onnection to the natural world.