The Archetype of the Ape-Man

<p>This interdisciplinary dissertation explores the archetype of the "ape-man" from a phenomenological perspective with its genesis and present continuation dependent on extant and accreted human behavior and morphology.</p><p>In order to ascertain the embedded components of the ape-man archetype an identikit ape-man as a discrete phenomenon is derived after the examination of cross-cultural examples world-wide. Next this discrete phenomenon and its constituent parts are compared both to extant ape species' behavior and morphology and the paleoanthropological evidence to determine in what ways -- if any -- components of each are reflected accurately in the phenomenon.</p><p>Utilizing concepts in the fields of cultural and physical anthropology ethology psychology and philosophy this dissertation asserts as its conclusion that the archetype of the ape-man is a result of accreted and enacted collective memories and reflects an important phenomenon integral to human thought and form.</p>