ARETEIOI CANON INDUCTEE

Lived	3 April 1934 – 1 October 2025 (Gregorian) 3 April 11934 – 1 October 12025 (Holocene)
Eras active	Modern
Associated phase	Renewal

Jane Goodall was an English primatologist and anthropologist whose field research on the social and family life of wild chimpanzees challenged anthropocentric views. Goodall’s work informed her activism on conservation, climate change, animal rights, women’s rights, and sustainable development.

Reasons for Induction

• Guardian of Life: Goodall was a champion of the rights of all sentient beings, recognizing that all animals were just as capable of feeling and deserving of respect as humans. She campaigned tirelessly against factory farming, the caging of farm animals, the use of animals in research, farming, and sport, and for the criminalization of ecocide. She founded organizations like Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and served in organizations like Advocates for Animals to further these goals
  • Goodall’s passionate defense of the rights of the voiceless demonstrates an understanding of the interconnectedness of all things and aligns with the virtues of right livelihood, right action, and justice
• Revealer of Oneness: Goodall’s research on chimpanzees pioneered scientific understanding of animal behavior, cognition, and emotion. While her initial descriptions of chimpanzees as having “human-like personalities” was criticized, time has borne out her findings as accurate. Her treatment of the chimpanzees, particularly her consideration of those she observed not as subjects but as individuals, gave her the distinction of being the only human ever accepted into chimpanzee society
  • Goodall’s work in primatology broke boundaries and went against the grain, demonstrating the virtue of courage. Through her research on primates, humanity came closer into alignment with Ji by recognizing the equality and dignity of all life
• Natural Attunement: Goodall rarely spoke of her spiritual beliefs but what we know of them is illustrative of her profound respect for the natural. She felt a “great spiritual power” and “something that’s bigger and stronger” than anybody while in nature, a sentiment virtually identical to Jiayan teaching
  • Goodall’s words, actions, and outlook on the world sought not only to synthesize the divine and the natural but to see them as one and the same. Her life’s work reflect the Jiayan teaching that to live in harmony with Ji is to revere and respect the universe
• Advocacy and Solidarity: Goodall was a pioneer for women in the then-male-dominated field of primatology. Over the course of her life, she encouraged and inspired women to pursue careers in science. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute which, among its many environmental, developmental, and agricultural projects, works to provide greater educational opportunities for women in central Africa
  • Goodall recognized that individual success does not a fulfilled life make. Instead, she set out to better the global community however she could, particularly working to counter the disparities in education and health between men and women in central Africa. Her work was aligned with the virtues of right livelihood, wisdom, and justice
• Service Through Harmony: Goodall’s developmental work through the Jane Goodall Institute recognized that human and societal development need not come at the cost of environmental destruction or loss of biodiversity. The Institute’s work in developing Africa focuses on protecting water supplies, starting local businesses, and sustainable agricultural and production techniques
  • Goodall walks the Middle Way in her handling of the delicate situation of ensuring human progress does not hinder the planet. Her work serves as a model for humanity to work toward and a representation of the virtue of moderation
• Roots of Renewal: Goodall recognized the need to preserve the planet for future generations; life goes on even after one’s passing into Ji. She urged world leaders for action on climate change, stressing the need for global cooperation and protection of biodiversity. Critically, she encouraged young people to take their future into their own hands with the founding of Roots & Shoots, an education and environment charity
  • Goodall’s view of the world was profoundly anti-individualist. Rather, it emphasized the interdependence of life and the need to focus on how actions in the present moment affect others and one’s future, reflecting an understanding of causality and an alignment with the virtues of right action and right speech
• The Unfinished Journey: In her writings and speeches, Goodall was deeply aware that the journey of human progress was never ending and was firm in her stance that humanity had yet to realize its full compassionate potential. She believed that practices such as contemporary farming would be viewed as appalling in the future and affirmed “cultural speciation” (or tribalism) as the greatest evil or obstacle to peace, consistent with Jiayan teaching
  • Goodall’s views are remarkably in line with Jiayan views on the destiny of humanity; that is, humanity has the capacity to realize a brighter and better world (and to do so would mean moving closer to alignment with Ji) but prejudices and individualist thinking hold the world back