The First-Person Authority of Children

This is an open access book that addresses how we treat others and, in particular, infants and children, with first-person authority. We respond to people’s first-person authority when we give our interlocutor’s communication of their mental states more significance in establishing their thoughts, d...

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Main Author: Borgoni, Cristina
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2025
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Online Access:ONIX_20250414_9783031839993_53
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author Borgoni, Cristina
author_browse Borgoni, Cristina
author_facet Borgoni, Cristina
author_sort Borgoni, Cristina
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This is an open access book that addresses how we treat others and, in particular, infants and children, with first-person authority. We respond to people’s first-person authority when we give our interlocutor’s communication of their mental states more significance in establishing their thoughts, desires, and feelings than if another person were to report those mental states for them. But what happens when our interlocutors are infants and children? Increasingly, practices of responsive childrearing ascribe first-person authority to very young children. Despite this tendency, philosophy seems to be one step behind. The accepted view is one in which first-person authority has its locus in linguistic expressions of one’s self-knowledge. This is an over-intellectualized conception, however, that consequently tends to exclude children. By combining philosophical resources with empirical findings about the onset of human communication, play, and our nature as social beings, this text advances a non-intellectualized, anti-individualist, and non-adult-centered view of first-person authority. This is a view that both accommodates our daily experiences and provides material for advancing the philosophical debate around the phenomenon in an enriched and more inclusive way.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1584752025-07-30T09:00:16Z The First-Person Authority of Children Borgoni, Cristina first-person authority self-knowledge and philosophy personhood and philosophy personhood of children onset of communication social play and philosophy epistemology and children philosophy of mind and children social cognition expression and self knowledge self interpretation first person knowledge second person knowledge third person knowledge implicit bias and philosophy thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTK Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMC Child, developmental and lifespan psychology thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTK Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMC Child, developmental and lifespan psychology thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind This is an open access book that addresses how we treat others and, in particular, infants and children, with first-person authority. We respond to people’s first-person authority when we give our interlocutor’s communication of their mental states more significance in establishing their thoughts, desires, and feelings than if another person were to report those mental states for them. But what happens when our interlocutors are infants and children? Increasingly, practices of responsive childrearing ascribe first-person authority to very young children. Despite this tendency, philosophy seems to be one step behind. The accepted view is one in which first-person authority has its locus in linguistic expressions of one’s self-knowledge. This is an over-intellectualized conception, however, that consequently tends to exclude children. By combining philosophical resources with empirical findings about the onset of human communication, play, and our nature as social beings, this text advances a non-intellectualized, anti-individualist, and non-adult-centered view of first-person authority. This is a view that both accommodates our daily experiences and provides material for advancing the philosophical debate around the phenomenon in an enriched and more inclusive way. 2025-04-15T04:36:34Z 2025-04-15T04:36:34Z 2025-04-14T12:59:10Z 2025 book ONIX_20250414_9783031839993_53 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/100810 9783031839986 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/158475 eng SpringerBriefs in Philosophy open access image/jpeg n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/100810/1/9783031839993.pdf Springer Nature Springer Nature Switzerland 10.1007/978-3-031-83999-3 10.1007/978-3-031-83999-3 9fa3421d-f917-4153-b9ab-fc337c396b5a 5a80e42e-eade-414d-8d3f-813f47bb2c88 8d7c0cc8-535d-4279-9441-386cbcbedf75 9783031839986 Springer Nature Switzerland 57 Cham [...] Universität Bayreuth University of Bayreuth 10.13039/100020618 open access
spellingShingle first-person authority
self-knowledge and philosophy
personhood and philosophy
personhood of children
onset of communication
social play and philosophy
epistemology and children
philosophy of mind and children
social cognition
expression and self knowledge
self interpretation
first person knowledge
second person knowledge
third person knowledge
implicit bias and philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTK Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMC Child, developmental and lifespan psychology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTK Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMC Child, developmental and lifespan psychology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind
Borgoni, Cristina
The First-Person Authority of Children
title The First-Person Authority of Children
title_full The First-Person Authority of Children
title_fullStr The First-Person Authority of Children
title_full_unstemmed The First-Person Authority of Children
title_short The First-Person Authority of Children
title_sort first person authority of children
topic first-person authority
self-knowledge and philosophy
personhood and philosophy
personhood of children
onset of communication
social play and philosophy
epistemology and children
philosophy of mind and children
social cognition
expression and self knowledge
self interpretation
first person knowledge
second person knowledge
third person knowledge
implicit bias and philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTK Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMC Child, developmental and lifespan psychology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTK Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMC Child, developmental and lifespan psychology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind
topic_facet first-person authority
self-knowledge and philosophy
personhood and philosophy
personhood of children
onset of communication
social play and philosophy
epistemology and children
philosophy of mind and children
social cognition
expression and self knowledge
self interpretation
first person knowledge
second person knowledge
third person knowledge
implicit bias and philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTK Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMC Child, developmental and lifespan psychology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTK Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JM Psychology::JMC Child, developmental and lifespan psychology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTM Philosophy of mind
url ONIX_20250414_9783031839993_53
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