Paul Bloom Descartes' Baby

Annotation

This fascinating book is a far-reaching yet accessible exploration of how our personality and humanity develops All humans see the world in two fundamentally different ways: even babies have a rich understanding of both the physical and social worlds. They expect objects to obey principles of physics, and they're startled when things disappear or defy gravity. Yet they can also read emotions and respond with anger, sympathy, and joy. In Descartes' Baby, Bloom draws on a wealth of scientific discoveries to show how these two ways of knowing give rise to such uniquely human traits as humour, disgust, religion, art, and morality. How our dualist perspectives develop throughout our lives and profoundly influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions is the subject of this richly rewarding book.