The philosophical baby : what children's minds tell us about truth, love, and the meaning of life

n the last decade there has been a revolution in our understanding of the minds of infants and young children. We used to believe that babies were irrational, and that their thinking and experience were limited. Now Alison Gopnik ― a leading psychologist and philosopher, as well as a mother ― explains the cutting-edge scientific and psychological research that has revealed that babies learn more, create more, care more, and experience more than we could ever have imagined. And there is good reason to believe that babies are actually smarter, more thoughtful, and more conscious than adults. In a lively and accessible tour of the groundbreaking new psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical developments, Gopnik offers new insight into how babies see the world, and in turn promotes a deeper appreciation for the role of parents in shaping the lives of their children. Contents Introduction 3 HOW CHILDREN CHANGE THE WORLD 6 HOW CHILDHOOD CHANGES THE WORLD 9 A ROAD MAP 15 1. Possible Worlds: Why Do Children Pretend? 19 THE POWER OF COUNTERFACTUALS 21 COUNTERFACTUALS IN CHILDREN: PLANNING THE FUTURE 23 RECONSTRUCTING THE PAST 26 IMAGINING THE POSSIBLE 27 IMAGINATION AND CAUSATION 31 CHILDREN AND CAUSATION 34 CAUSES AND POSSIBILITIES 37 MAPS AND BLUEPRINTS 39 CAUSAL MAPS 41 DETECTING BLICKETS 43 2. Imaginary Companions: How Does Fiction Tell the Truth? 47 DUNZER AND CHARLIE RAVIOLI 49 NORMAL WEIRDNESS 52 MAKING A MAP OF THE MIND 54 IMAGINARY COMPANIONS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE 60 AUTISM, CAUSATION, AND IMAGINATION 61 MAPS AND FICTIONS 63 WHY MINDS AND THINGS ARE DIFFERENT 65 SOUL ENGINEERS 68 THE WORK OF PLAY 70 3. Escaping Plato’s Cave: How Children, Scientists, and Computers Discover the Truth 74 OBSERVATION: BABY STATISTICS 81 EXPERIMENTATION: MAKING THINGS HAPPEN 86 DEMONSTRATION: WATCHING MOM'S EXPERIMENTS 92 UNDERSTANDING MINDS 96 4. What Is It Like to Be a Baby? Consciousness and Attention 106 EXTERNAL ATTENTION 110 INTERNAL ATTENTION 112 BABY ATTENTION 116 YOUNG CHILDREN AND ATTENTION 123 WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A BABY? 125 TRAVEL AND MEDITATION 126 5. Who Am I? Memory, Self, and the Babbling Stream 133 CONSCIOUSNESS AND MEMORY 134 CHILDREN AND MEMORY 138 KNOWING HOW YOU KNOW 140 CONSTRUCTING MYSELF 144 CHILDREN AND THE FUTURE 147 THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS 150 LIVING IN THE MOMENT 152 INTERNAL CONSCIOUSNESS, FREE ASSOCIATION, HYPNAGOGIC THOUGHT, AND INSIGHT MEDITATION 154 WHY DOES CONSCIOUSNESS CHANGE? 156 A MAP OF MYSELF: CONSTRUCTING CONSCIOUSNESS 160 6. Heraclitus’ River and the Romanian Orphans: How Does Our Early Life Shape Our Later Life? 164 LIFE CYCLES 168 THE PARADOX OF INHERITANCE 169 HOW BABIES RAISE THEIR PARENTS 174 7. Learning to Love: Attachment and Identity 179 THEORIES OF LOVE 179 BEYOND MOTHERS: SOCIAL MONOGAMY AND ALLOMOTHERING 191 LIFE'S WEATHER 195 THE CHILD INSIDE 196 8. Love and Law: The Origins of Morality 202 IMITATION AND EMPATHY 205 ANGER AND VENGEANCE 209 BEYOND EMPATHY 210 PSYCHOPATHS 212 TROLLEYOLOGY 214 NOT LIKE ME 216 WIDENING THE CIRCLE 219 FOLLOWING THE RULES 221 BABY RULES 223 DOING IT ON PURPOSE 225 RULES AS CAUSES 226 THE PERILS OF RULES 229 THE WISDOM OF HUCK FINN 230 9. Babies and the Meaning of Life 234 AWE 238 MAGIC 239 LOVE 241 CONCLUSION 243 Notes 249 Bibliography 257 Acknowledgments 273 Index 277 For most of us, having a baby is the most profound, intense, and fascinating experience of our lives. Now scientists and philosophers are starting to appreciate babies, too. The last decade has witnessed a revolution in our understanding of infants and young children. Scientists used to believe that babies were irrational, and that their thinking and experience were limited. Recently, they have discovered that babies learn more, create more, care more, and experience more than we could ever have imagined. And there is good reason to believe that babies are actually smarter, more thoughtful, and even more conscious than adults. This new science holds answers to some of the deepest and oldest questions about what it means to be human. A new babys captivated gaze at her mothers face lays the foundations for love and morality. A toddlers unstoppable explorations of his playpen hold the key to scientific discovery. A three-year-olds wild make-believe explains how we can imagine the future, write novels, and invent new technologies. Alison Gopnik - a leading psychologist and philosopher, as well as a mother - explains the groundbreaking new psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical developments in our understanding of very young children, transforming our understanding of how babies see the world, and in turn promoting a deeper appreciation for the role of parents.

In the last decade there has been a revolution in our understanding of the minds of infants and young children. We used to believe that babies were irrational, and that their thinking and experience were limited. Now Alison Gopnik — a leading psychologist and philosopher, as well as a mother — explains the cutting-edge scientific and psychological research that has revealed that babies learn more, create more, care more, and experience more than we could ever have imagined. And there is good reason to believe that babies are actually smarter, more thoughtful, and more conscious than adults. In a lively and accessible tour of the groundbreaking new psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical developments, Gopnik offers new insight into how babies see the world, and in turn promotes a deeper appreciation for the role of parents in shaping the lives of their children.

A revelatory examination of how babies and young children think draws on new scientific understandings to identify links between key behaviors and subsequent abilities, explaining how the latest findings offer profound insight into the nature of being human.