Just babies : the origins of good and evil

The Resource Just babies : the origins of good and evil

Label

Just babies : the origins of good and evil

Title remainder

the origins of good and evil

Statement of responsibility

Paul Bloom

Language

eng

Summary

"From Sigmund Freud to Jean Piaget, psychologists have long believed that we begin life as amoral animals. After all, isn't it the role of society--and especially parents--to transform babies from little psychopaths into civilized beings who can experience empathy and shame, and override selfish impulses? In Just Babies, Paul Bloom argues that humans are in fact hardwired with a sense of morality. Drawing upon years of original research at Yale, he shows that babies and toddlers can judge the goodness and badness of others' actions; that they act to soothe those in distress; and that they feel guilt, shame, pride, and righteous anger. Yet this innate morality is tragically limited. Our natural morality extends toward those in our own group, but this is offset by ingrained dislike, even hatred, of those in different groups. Put simply, we are natural-born bigots. Vivid and intellectually probing, Just Babies argues that it's only through our uniquely human capacity for reason that we can transcend the primitive sense of morality we are born with. This erudite yet accessible book will captivate readers of Steven Pinker, Philip Zimbardo, and Robert Wright."--

Assigning source

Provided by publisher

Cataloging source

DLC

Dewey number

155.4/1825

Index

index present

LC call number

BJ45

LC item number

.B56 2013

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Context

Context of Just babies : the origins of good and evil

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Context

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