num_pages: 273
description: From John Locke to Sigmund Freud philosophers and psychologists have long believed that we begin life as blank moral slates. Many of us take for granted that babies are born selfish and that it is the role of societyand especially parentsto transform them from little sociopaths into civilized beings. In Just Babies Paul Bloom argues that humans are in fact hardwired with a sense of morality. Drawing on groundbreaking research at Yale Bloom demonstrates that even before they can speak or walk babies judge the goodness and badness of others actions; feel empathy and compassion; act to soothe those in distress; and have a rudimentary sense of justice.Still this innate morality is limited sometimes tragically. We are naturally hostile to strangers prone to parochialism and bigotry. Bringing together insights from psychology behavioral economics evolutionary biology and philosophy Bloom explores how we have come to surpass these limitations. Along the way he examines the morality of chimpanzees violent psychopaths religious extremists and Ivy League professors and explores our often puzzling moral feelings about sex politics religion and race.
language: English
title: Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil
publisher: Crown