Quote by: Frans de Waal

Friedrich Nietzsche, who famously gave us the ‘God is dead’ phrase was interested in the sources of morality. He warned that the emergence of something (whether an organ, a legal institution, or a religious ritual) is never to be confused with its acquired purpose: ‘Anything in existence, having somehow come about, is continually interpreted anew, requisitioned anew, transformed and redirected to a new purpose.’ This is a liberating thought, which teaches us to never hold the history of something against its possible applications. Even if computers started out as calculators, that doesn’t prevent us from playing games on them. (47) (quoting Nietzsche, the Genealogy of Morals)


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Author Bio


  • NameFrans de Waal
  • DescriptionDutch primatologist and ethologist
  • BornOctober 29, 1948
  • CountryNetherlands
  • ProfessionBiologist; University Professor; Psychologist; Author; Primatologist; Ethologist
  • AwardsPierre Bayle Award; Ig Nobel Prize; Ariëns Kappers Medal