Description
Book SynopsisInfancy 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
