Description

Book Synopsis

Infancy research and philosophy explore âœfirst things,â yet few books bring the two fields into contact. Stephen Langfurâs Philosophy Meets the Infant integrates groundbreaking infancy studies of the last 50 years to offer a fresh exploration of our drive for human connection. He begins with a new understanding of self-awareness, which he locates in reciprocal attention between baby and caregiver. Instead of âœI think, therefore I am,â the new research supports âœYou attend, therefore I am.â The event of becoming self-aware through another is termed a âœYou-I Event.â

The idea is counterintuitive: we are perfectly self-aware when alone! To explain the change after infancy, Langfur makes transformative use of an old psychoanalytic finding. With the onset of language, a child internalizes (introjects) the most important Youâs, playing them toward herself in speech. Instead of the original You-I Event, we have its counterfeit in our heads. Nevertheless, a longing for the t

Philosophy Meets the Infant

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    A Paperback by Stephen Langfur

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      Book details

      Publisher Taylor & Francis
      Published 5 July 2025
      ISBN-13 9781032895277
      978-1032895277
      ISBN-10 1032895276
      Also in:
      Psychoanalytical and Freudian psychology

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      Infancy research and philosophy explore âœfirst things,â yet few books bring the two fields into contact. Stephen Langfurâs Philosophy Meets the Infant integrates groundbreaking infancy studies of the last 50 years to offer a fresh exploration of our drive for human connection. He begins with a new understanding of self-awareness, which he locates in reciprocal attention between baby and caregiver. Instead of âœI think, therefore I am,â the new research supports âœYou attend, therefore I am.â The event of becoming self-aware through another is termed a âœYou-I Event.â

      The idea is counterintuitive: we are perfectly self-aware when alone! To explain the change after infancy, Langfur makes transformative use of an old psychoanalytic finding. With the onset of language, a child internalizes (introjects) the most important Youâs, playing them toward herself in speech. Instead of the original You-I Event, we have its counterfeit in our heads. Nevertheless, a longing for the t

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