The Philosophical Baby

How often have you found yourself captivated by a young child? We look into their charming little faces and bright eyes and wonder what the world looks like to them. When we coo and make them smile, do they know who we are?

Philosophers haven’t spent much time thinking about babies. Until recently, their minds have been impenetrable black boxes, and we’ve dismissed them as unformed, barely conscious humans, driven by immediate needs.

Thanks to new techniques for studying the brain, neuroscientists and psychologists are learning more about how babies think. They’re finding that in many ways, babies are smarter and more aware than adults. Alison Gopnik teaches psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. In her new book The Philosophical Baby she proposes that babies have a lot to teach us about creativity and morality.

(Photo by Libär via Flickr/Creative Commons)