“One comes to Paul Bloom for his unfailingly brilliant psychological research; one stays for the wise and relaxed way he writes about it. Parents especially will value his new book for the insights it affords into their children’s budding capacities for kindness and fairness, and sometimes cruelty.”
–JIM HOLT, author of Why Does the World Exist?
“The rich cognitive and moral life of babies is among the most fascinating discoveries of twenty-first-century psychology. Paul Bloom explains how this work illuminates human nature, and does it with his trademark clarity, depth, discernment, and graceful style.“
–STEVEN PINKER, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; author of How the Mind Works
“Wonderfully clear and entertaining…If you want to understand yourself, your children, and the psychopath in the next cubicle better than you do at present–read this book.”
–SAM HARRIS, author of Free Will
“Just Babies is an extremely important book. Today it is received wisdom that morality is unreal: our evolutionary instincts are purely selfish. We’re also told that human society is built on irrational impulses, that reason and choice count for nothing. A leading experimental psychologist, but also a skilled reader of philosophy, Bloom authoritatively punctures both of these errors. Lively and deftly argued, with admirably fair treatment of opposing views, Just Babies shows that humans inherit a rich basis for morality, but also some disturbing tendencies. Making the best of the good and doing what we can to inhibit the bad is the job of history, culture and reason.”
–MARTHA C. NUSSBAUM, professor of law and philosophy, University of Chicago; author of Political Emotions
“Take a tour through the latest and most amazing research in child psychology, and come back with a better understanding of the strange things adults do. Bloom shows us how a first rate scientist integrates conflicting findings, broad scholarship, and deep humanity to draw a nuanced and often surprising portrait of human nature, with all its beauty, horror, and wonder.”
–JONATHAN HAIDT, Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, New York University Stern School of Business; author of The Righteous Mind
“Just Babies is a fascinating, original exploration of our sense of right and wrong. Bloom and his colleagues plumb the mysteries of morality by playing games with babies, and in this witty, elegant book, he demonstrates the profound lessons we can gain from their responses. After finishing it, you’ll never look at an infant the same way again.”
–CARL ZIMMER, author of The Tangled Bank
“In Just Babies, Paul Bloom provides Aa wonderful, in-depth look at how our morality develops from infancy onward, making the strong case for the subtle interplay of genes and environment in the way we turn out…a must for social science enthusiasts and parents. “
–DAN ARIELY, James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics, Duke University; author of Predictably Irrational
“Paul Bloom’s engaging explorations of the moral preferences of infants set the stage for a book that isn’t really about ‘just babies’ because it goes deeply into the nature of morality itself, for all of us. This is a book for everyone who wants to know more about the kind of moral beings we are.”
–PETER SINGER, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University; author of The Life You Can Save
“Paul Bloom has such an interesting mind, and it’s a rare treat to follow as he tracks the origins of human morality. With clarity and wit, Bloom shows that babies have an incredible amount to teach us—and in these masterful pages, the lessons are full of surprise and delight.”
–EMILY BAZELON, author of Sticks and Stones
“’The Origins of Good and Evil’ is an ambitious subtitle, but this book earns it. Paul Bloom combines graceful, witty writing with intellectual rigor to produce a compelling account of how and why people are so wonderful and so horrible. … Drawing on his own pioneering work and the work of many other psychologists, Bloom shows that, from infancy on, the imprint of our creator, natural selection, is evident: we are in some sense moral animals, complete with compassion and a sense of justice, but our “moral compass” can be self-serving, sometimes to gruesome effect. Still, transcendence of a sort is possible; Bloom rightly emphasizes the edifying power of reason and self-reflection, and notes how these tools of enlightenment have led to genuine moral progress. This book, by fostering self-reflection, is itself a tool of enlightenment, and can help humanity take another step toward the good.”
–ROBERT WRIGHT, author of The Moral Animal and The Evolution of God
“Just Babies is exactly the combination of penetrating insight, cutting-edge science, and elegant prose that millions of readers have come to expect from one of psychology’s best writers and sharpest minds.”
–DANIEL GILBERT, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; author of Stumbling on Happiness
“Paul Bloom is a scientist who knows how to tell a fascinating and charming story. As a new parent, I found Just Babies not only full of insights into my son’s developing moral sense but also a great pleasure to read.”
–JOSHUA FOER, author of Moonwalking with Einstein
“Without God does anything go? No, because we have an evolved moral nature that gives us a sense of right and wrong. But when does this sense develop? Thanks to Paul Bloom and this remarkable and important book, we have an answer—very early childhood. Just Babies is a vital contribution to the scientific study of morality that fills in a major gap in our understanding of human nature, and as a bonus it’s a riveting read!”
–MICHAEL SHERMER, publisher of Skeptic magazine; author of The Science of Good and Evil
“Paul Bloom is one of the best psychologist-writers today. In Just Babies he combines hard data with charming anecdote and incisive analysis to explore one of the most profound questions that’s ever confronted mankind: how we become moral beings. He makes an erudite and impassioned case for the primacy of deliberation and reason in our lives–a truth given short shrift in pop psychology.”
–SALLY SATEL, M.D., coauthor of Brainwashed
“Bloom makes a convincing case that morality demands compassion but sometimes also overrides it … An engaging examination of human morality.”
–KIRKUS REVIEWS
“With wit and passion, Yale psychology professor Bloom (How Pleasure Works) explores the nature of morality, drawing on current research in psychology, evolutionary biology, and philosophy while discussing which factors appear to be innate and which are culturally determined. Bloom convincingly establishes that the nature of morality is open to scientific investigation.”
–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY