The Work of the Imagination

A long intellectual tradition, uniting such diverse figures as Freud and Piaget, states that children′s early fantasy life is primitive and disorganized. In The Work of the Imagination Paul Harris argues against this tradition, showing that children′s ability to imagine hypothetical and counterfactual possibilities makes a continuing contribution to their cognitive and emotional development. In particular, he reveals how children′s ability to entertain such possibilities is critical for making causal and moral judgements.
Incorporating a unique, cross–cutting approach, The Work of the Imagination discusses a number of key topics in cognitive development that are usually discussed quite separately.

Spis treści:
Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
Bleuler in Weimar.
Pretend Play.
Role Play.
Imagination and Emotion.
Reasoning, Make–believe and Dialogue.
Counterfactual Thinking.
Obligation and Violation.
Beyond Possibility.
Language and Imagination.
References.
Name Index.
Subject Index.

Nota biograficzna:
Paul L. Harris is Professor of Developmental Psychology, Oxford University, and Fellow in Psychology, St. John′s College, Oxford. He is the author of Children and Emotion, and co–editor of Developing Theories of Mind, Children′s Understanding of Emotion, and Imagining the Impossible: Mgical, Scientific and Religious Thinking in Children.

Okładka tylna:
A long intellectual tradition, uniting such diverse figures as Freud and Piaget, states that children′s early fantasy life is primitive and disorganized. In The Work of the Imagination Paul Harris argues against this tradition, showing that children′s ability to imagine hypothetical and counterfactual possibilities makes a continuing contribution to their cognitive and emotional development. In parti cular, he reveals how children′s ability to entertain such possibilities is critical for making causal and moral judgements.
Incorporating a unique, cross–cutting approach, The Work of the Imagination discusses a number of key topics in cognitive development that are usually discussed quite separately.