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Landscapes of Childhood
The Child in the World: Embodiment, Time, and Language in Early Childhood
The Child in the World builds a bridge between continental philosophers, who tend to overlook child existence, and developmental psychologists, who often fail to consider the philosophical assumptions underlying their work. In this volume, author Eva M. Simms draws on both psychological and phenomenological research to investigate child existence in its cultural and historical context and explore the ways children interact with the world around them.
Simms examines key experiences of childhood with special attention to the non-dualistic nature of the child's consciousness and the understanding that there is more to the child's experiences than cognitive processes. In chapters that proceed from infancy to early childhood, Simms considers how children live their embodiment, coexist with others, experience and the spaces and places of their neighborhoods, have deeply felt relations to things, grasp time intuitively and often in contradiction to adult clock-time, and are transformed by the mystery of the symbolic order of play and language.
Simms's approach is particularly informed by the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, which allows for a descriptive and grounded understanding of child experience as well as sophisticated and critical philosophical thinking about human existence in general.
By respecting and celebrating the magical non-dualistic relationship child consciousness has to the world, The Child in the World offers readers a unique opportunity to expand their understanding of human existence. Students and teachers of psychology and philosophy, early childhood educators, psychotherapists, as well as general readers who are parents of young children will enjoy this fascinating volume.
Simms examines key experiences of childhood with special attention to the non-dualistic nature of the child's consciousness and the understanding that there is more to the child's experiences than cognitive processes. In chapters that proceed from infancy to early childhood, Simms considers how children live their embodiment, coexist with others, experience and the spaces and places of their neighborhoods, have deeply felt relations to things, grasp time intuitively and often in contradiction to adult clock-time, and are transformed by the mystery of the symbolic order of play and language.
Simms's approach is particularly informed by the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, which allows for a descriptive and grounded understanding of child experience as well as sophisticated and critical philosophical thinking about human existence in general.
By respecting and celebrating the magical non-dualistic relationship child consciousness has to the world, The Child in the World offers readers a unique opportunity to expand their understanding of human existence. Students and teachers of psychology and philosophy, early childhood educators, psychotherapists, as well as general readers who are parents of young children will enjoy this fascinating volume.
264 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2008
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 28, 2018
Deep thoughts
Embodiment of children where language symbolically shapes the dimension of our culture, how we think, and draws us into a shared reality
Children are biased learners where they lack understanding that words may not represent whole objects, which is why vocabulary development becomes increasingly more important as they age
I enjoyed this participatory consciousness exercise
Not what I had anticipated
Embodiment of children where language symbolically shapes the dimension of our culture, how we think, and draws us into a shared reality
Children are biased learners where they lack understanding that words may not represent whole objects, which is why vocabulary development becomes increasingly more important as they age
I enjoyed this participatory consciousness exercise
Not what I had anticipated
Displaying 1 of 1 review