Descartes’ Baby by Paul Bloom, Basic Books/William Heinemann, July in the UK, £20/$26, ISBN 0434007994
EXPLORING how the average person feels about their own existence is no trivial enterprise. In Descartes’ Baby, Paul Bloom rises to the challenge, using insights from psychology and philosophy to argue that we are all natural born dualists, perceiving the world to contain material bodies and immaterial souls.
Drawing on his expertise in child development, he shows that this Cartesian dichotomy can explain a good deal of the human condition: why someone slipping on a banana skin is funny, why a forgery is worth less…
