Theories of Theories of Mind

A state of the art survey of debate within philosophy of mind, developmental psychology, the aetiology of autism and primatology.

Theories of Theories of Mind brings together contributions by a distinguished international team of philosophers, psychologists, and primatologists, who between 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? And is any such mentalistic understanding shared by members of other species? The volume's four parts together offer a state of the art survey of the major topics in the theory-theory/simulationism debate within philosophy of mind, developmental psychology, the aetiology of autism and primatology. The volume will be of great interest to researchers and students in all areas interested in the 'theory of mind' debate.

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.

This book brings together contributions by a distinguished international team of philosophers, psychologists and primatologists, who offer a state of the art survey of the major topics in the theory-theory/simulationism debate within philosophy of mind, developmental psychology, the aetiology of autism and primatology.