Apes in Trousers - Evolution or Animal Soul

Modern scientific evolutionary theory and the Tanya (Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Chabad) both seem to have arrived at a very similar conclusion. How they get there, however, is an entirely different story.

Every self reflecting human being no doubt sees that we possess a complicated and paradoxical set of traits. On the one hand we are beastly, but on the other hand, cultured and civilized. We enjoy base and materialistic pleasures but also have a fine taste for the arts and wisdom.

Evolutionary theory explains this phenomenon quite simply. Man was (and basically still is) an animal. We lived in the jungle where we hunted and gathered food for survival. We spoke no language, possessed no moral code and knew nothing of the arts and fashion which form our culture. It was only after many millions of years that this beast called man learned to speak, think, write, and turned itself into the fine cultured and civilized ape he is today.

This explains the dichotomy within our character. At our very essence we are animals. This is our inherent nature. It is only over time, through nurture, that we have taught ourselves to be civilized and manlike. However, no matter how thick we pile onto ourselves the manners and sophistication of modern man, beneath that our inner essence remains animalistic. Sometimes we succeed in keeping our inner animal hidden beneath the surface and show only our external cultured facade; at other times the animal within us bursts forth and we are reminded that at the end of the day we are just pretty beasts.

The Tanya also took note of man's split personality and came up with a similar explanation. We possess two souls. We have an animal soul and a G-dly soul (or intellectual soul). These two souls are at odds with each other and struggle for expression within us. At times the animal soul triumphs. When it inhabits our consciousness we are reduced to behaving like animals. When our G-dly soul triumphs we tend to behave like the wise, mature and noble people we sometimes are.

What both theories have in common is that they recognize these two very different personas within us and the constant struggle for expression that we are engaged in. Evolution credits our ape origins for this while Tanya attributes it to two different souls that inhabit us.

However, upon closer examination these two schools of thought are (obviously) worlds apart.

The Torah view is that man did not evolve from apes; rather he came into existence as a man. He was intelligent and capable of speech as soon as he came into existence. We didn't need to learn how to be humanlike; we were born that way. Our inherent nature is different than the beast and we were superior from the get-go.

Therefore, we are not defined by our animal soul any more than by our G-dly (intellectual) soul. We possess both and thus have the potential to be both animal like or human like, but the animal soul cannot claim any more rights than the other soul.

If anything, the argument can be made in the reverse. We are endowed first and foremost with the human soul and are defined primarily by it. We possess the animal soul as well but it is not at our essence.

Evolution, however, would most certainly argue that man is, first and foremost, a beast. Inherently he is an animal and this is what defines him. It is only that he has succeeded in creating an external facade of culture and sophistication, but ultimately he can never escape his animal origins.

To an evolutionist, it's a losing battle. Man can never truly rid himself of his animalism. He can get better at hiding it, but he can never outgrow it. He must always see himself as nothing more than an ape in trousers (Will Durant). In a sense, he must make peace with, and accept, his beastly tendencies and should never hope to be free from them.

To the Tanya however, it's a whole different ball game. Man was never and will never be an animal. He was—and is—in his essence, better than that. True, he does possess an animal soul. But this can be contained and denied expression. When he does this he is a truly superior being. He therefore can and must strive for higher and better. He must see himself as human and his animal tendencies as a foreign invasion.

Besides for being the more inspiring perspective, The Tanya's is the only one that can allow man to reach his full potential.