"Three Seductive Ideas"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyses section by section "Three Seductive Ideas" by Jerome Kagan. The book, a blend of philosophy and psychology, focuses on three specific issues that potentially mar the accuracy of empirical studies:The tendency towards over-generalization, the belief in infant determinism and a bias towards a pleasure principle that guides human behavior.

From the Paper:

"Three Seductive Ideas is divided into three sections, plus the Prologue and Epilogue. The first section, "A Passion for Abstraction," deals with overgeneralization, what he calls "loose thinking," (p. 1). Kagan believes that the general public remains particularly vulnerable to the passion for abstraction because of the basic human need to apply specific knowledge to the world at large. However, social scientists perpetuate this problem by resting on species-wide assumptions and context-wide assumptions. What a laboratory rat can do, we assume so can we; what an eight-year old boy thinks and feels we assume will apply to all others in his age group, regardless of gender or upbringing. These assumptions are particularly harmful when studying psychology because of its prevalence today in popular culture. Kagan hones in on four specific areas where generalization is evident: fear, consciousness, intelligence, and temperament. Entitled "The Allure of Infant Determinism," the second section of the book confronts the prevalent myth that the first few years of life leave an indelible mark on our psyches, either scarring or blessing us for life. Kagan refutes this widespread fallacy and supports his theories with ample evidence as he does throughout Three Seductive Ideas. Finally, the third section broaches the notion of the pleasure principle, which is deeply rooted in Western philosophy. In the most philosophical section of the book, "The Pleasure Principle," Kagan questions morality and ethics and attempts to formulate a new understanding of what motivates human beings to act altruistically. Current scientific knowledge, Kagan claims, is sorely lacking in all three of these areas, impeding honest insights into human nature."

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