Theories of Theories of Mind / Edition 1

by Peter Carruthers, Peter K. Smith

Overview

Theories of Theories of Mind brings together contributions by a distinguished international team of philosophers, psychologists and primatologists, who among them address such questions as: what is it to understand the thoughts, feelings, and intentions of other people? How does such an understanding develop in the normal child? Why, unusually, does it fail to develop? Is any such mentalistic understanding shared by members of other species?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521559164
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/23/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction Peter Carruthers and Peter K Smith; Part I. What is acquired - theory-theory versus simulation theory: 2. 'Radical' simulationism Robert M. Gordon; 3. Simulation and self-knowledge: a defence of theory-theory Peter Carruthers; 4. Varieties of off-line simulation Shaun Nichols, Stephen Stich, Alan Leslie, and David Klein; 5. Simulation, theory, and content Jane Heal; 6. Simulation as explicitation of predication-implicit knowledge about the mind: arguments for a simulation-theory mix Josef Perner; 7. Folk psychology and theoretical status George Botterill; 8. The mental simulation debate: a progress report Tony Stone and Martin Davies; Part II. Modes of acquisition: theorising, learning, and modularity: 9. The modularity of theory of mind Gabriel Segal; 10. The relationship between SAM and TOMM: two hypotheses Simon Baron-Cohen and John Swettenham; 11. Theories and modules: creation myths, developmental realities, and Neurath's boat Alison Gopnik; 12. What is theoretical about the child's theory of mind: a Vygotskian view of its development Janet Astington; 13. Desires, beliefs, and language Paul Harris; Part III. Failures of acquisition – explaining autism: 14. What could possibly explain autism? Jill Boucher; 15. Simulation-theory, theory-theory, and the evidence from autism Gregory Currie; 16. Autism as mind-blindness: an elaboration and partial defence Peter Carruthers; Part IV. Wider perspectives – evolution and theory of mind: 17. When does smart behaviour reading become mind-reading? Andrew Whiten; 18. Chimpanzee theory of mind: the long road to strong inference Daniel Povinelli; 19. Non-human primate theories of (non-human primate) minds: some issues concerning the origins of mind-reading Juan Carlos Gómez; 20. Language and the evolution of mind-reading Peter K. Smith; Indexes.

Editorial Reviews

"Theories of Theories of Mind is an excellent collection of papers and will be of interest to cognitive scientists, philosophers and ethologists." Brian Jonathan Garrett, Philosphy in Review

"The contributions are generally of high quality, produced by some of the most active and productive researchers in the fields covered by the collection." Dialogue

From the Publisher