Making Sense
What It Means to Understand
Published on 20. April 2022
210 pages
978-1-009-07532-9 (ISBN)
Description
Understanding, as Descartes, Locke and Kant all insisted, is the primary 'faculty' of the mind; yet our modern sciences have been slow to advance a clear and testable account of what it means to understand, of children's acquisition of this concept and, in particular, how children come to ascribe understanding to themselves and others. By drawing together developmental and philosophical theories, this book provides a systematic account of children's concept of understanding and places understanding at the heart of children's 'theory of mind'. Children's subjective awareness of their own minds, of what they think, depends on learning a language for ascribing mental states to themselves and others. This book will appeal to researchers in developmental psychology, cognitive science, education and philosophy who are interested in the cognitive and emotional development of children and in the more basic question of what it means to have a mind.
Reviews / Votes
'When David R. Olson asked his apparently pre-verbal 1-year-old to get her shoes, she promptly complied - much to his surprise. That incident planted the seed for a deep enquiry. Had she truly understood him? What does it mean to ascribe understanding to such a young child? We also need to consider who is doing the ascribing. Are young children able to ascribe understanding to themselves? And what about animals and computers? Drawing on the contributions of philosophers, linguists, and psychologists, David R. Olson proposes that understanding is a uniquely human capacity, slowly acquired as part of a web of language practices. His book is a provocative and original contribution to the study of children's theory of mind.' Paul Lansley Harris, Harvard Graduate School of Education, USAMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
File size
3,64 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-009-07532-9 (9781009075329)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
12/2023
Cambridge University Press
€33.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
05/2022
Cambridge University Press
€119.30
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Content
Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Understanding as feeling and understanding as concept; 3. The linguistic basis of mind- linguistic concepts; 4. Subjective mental states: the feeling of understanding; 5. Objective mental states: the truth of understanding; 6. Intersubjectivity of mental states; 7. Identity conditions for feelings and concepts; 8. What 'understanding' means: ascribing understanding; 9. The referential scope of understanding; 10. Understanding in the theory of mind; 11. Understanding and making sense; 12. Understanding as a learnable skill; 13. Understanding in everyday life; 14. Ascriptivism and cognitive development; References.
