People are apes, but are apes people too? In 2014 a US court case argued that a privately held chimpanzee named Tommy should be granted legal personhood, the latest event in a long-standing debate over the rights of apes, all of which are threatened species. The call for greater rights for higher primates has been championed by voices ranging from Richard Dawkins to Ricky Gervais to Twiggy, but what do the experts have to say about the mental and emotional lives of apes? Join Dr Lewis Dean, Dr Catherine Hobaiter and Dr Ben Sachs from the University of St Andrews; Dr Clare Cunningham from Abertay University and Dr Suilin Lavelle (PPLS) for a controversial discussion of primate cognition and behaviour, human and animal rights, the philosophy of science and what we owe our closest evolutionary cousins. The Great Ape Debate People are apes, but are apes people too? In 2014 a US court case argued that a privately held chimpanzee named Tommy should be granted legal personhood, the latest event in a long-standing debate over the rights of apes, all of which are threatened species. The call for greater rights for higher primates has been championed by voices ranging from Richard Dawkins to Ricky Gervais to Twiggy, but what do the experts have to say about the mental and emotional lives of apes? Join Dr Lewis Dean, Dr Catherine Hobaiter and Dr Ben Sachs from the University of St Andrews; Dr Clare Cunningham from Abertay University and Dr Suilin Lavelle (PPLS) for a controversial discussion of primate cognition and behaviour, human and animal rights, the philosophy of science and what we owe our closest evolutionary cousins. Friday 17 April 2015, 8.00pm Friday 17 April 2015, 9.30pm Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Summerhall Book tickets for the Great Ape Debate on the site of the Edinburgh International Science Festival Publication date 15 Oct, 2015
