Hierarchies, social organization, the distribution of power within groups, and shifts in these power structures have long been central topics in primatology (see e.g. De Waal 1982). Primatologists occasionally draw on their findings to offer indirect evidence for narratives about the evolution of human social behavior, roles, and cognition. These applications, however, remain speculative to some extent. Nevertheless, they frequently appear in popular media and, in recent decades, have been appropriated by fringe and right-wing online communities to promote ideas about “natural” hierarchies and fixed social roles.

This research project aims to reconstruct some of the interactions between primatological research and its public reception, situating them within the philosophy of science. I argue that applying primatological findings to human evolution inevitably involves mixed claims—that is, claims with both descriptive and normative dimensions. I suggest that explicitly engaging with the normative components of such claims could help safeguard scientific research against populist misappropriations.