Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil

The "Just Babies" book is a groundbreaking exploration of human morality, challenging the long-held belief that we are born as blank moral slates.

Drawing on cutting-edge research at Yale, Paul Bloom demonstrates that babies judge good and bad actions, feel empathy and compassion, and act to soothe those in distress from a young age.

However, this innate morality is limited, with humans often displaying hostility towards strangers and parochialism.

The book examines the morality of various groups, including chimpanzees, violent psychopaths, religious extremists, and Ivy League professors, while exploring our puzzling moral feelings about sex, politics, religion, and race.

Bloom rejects the view that moral decisions are driven by gut feelings and unconscious biases, arguing instead that reason and deliberation are key to making moral discoveries, such as the wrongness of slavery.

With its unique blend of psychology, behavioral economics, evolutionary biology, and philosophy, "Just Babies" offers a comprehensive and compelling understanding of human morality, sure to captivate and inspire readers.