Kristin Andrews, “Do Apes Read Minds?: Toward a New Folk Psychology” (MIT Press, 2012)
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What is folk psychology and why is it important for everyday social interactions?
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Hello and welcome to New Books in Philosophy, a podcast channel in the New Books Network. where we talk with philosophers about their ideas as expressed in their newly published books. I'm Carrie Figdor, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa. And I'm co host of the channel along with Robert Talis. Today's interview is with Kristen Andrews, Associate Professor of Philosophy at York University in Toronto. Her book Can Apes Read Minds has just been published by the MIT Press. The ability to figure out the mental lives of others, what they want, what they believe, what they know, what they feel. is basic to our relationships. Sherlock Holmes exemplified this ability by accurately simulating the thought processes of suspects in order to solve mysterious crimes.
But folks psychology is not restricted to genius detectives. We all use it to predict what a friend will feel when we cancel a date. To explain why a child in a playground is crying. To deceive someone else by saying less than the whole story. Its very ubiquity explains why it is called folk psychology. But how in fact does folk psychology work? On standard views in philosophy and psychology, folk psychology just is the practice of ascribing or attributing beliefs and desires to people for explaining and predicting their behavior. A folk psychologist is someone who has this theory of mind. In her new book, Andrews argues that the standard view is far too narrow a construal of what's going on. It leaves out a wide variety of other mechanisms we use to understand the mental lives of others, and a wide variety of other reasons we have for engaging in this social competence.
Moreover, what's necessary to be a folk psychologist is not a sophisticated metacognitive ability for ascribing beliefs but But instead an ability to sort the world into agents and non agents, an ability that greatly expands the class of creatures that can be counted as folk psychologists. Andrew's draws on empirical work in psychology and ethology, including her own field work, observing wild primates. To critique the standard view and ground her alternative pluralistic folk psychology. Let's turn to the interview. I'm here with Kristen Andrews of York University. Uh Christian, are you there? I am. Hi Carrie. Hi. Welcome to New Books in Philosophy. Thanks. Thanks so much for the invitation to talk about the book.
Yes, the book. Do apes read minds? Um I'm really excited about this book because it's a it's a very different sort of approach to the whole issue of of mind reading, which is which is very much in the air these days in psychology and neuroscience. Um And you know, you you give uh uh basically an empirically grounded indictment of of how folk psychology is is usually understood in philosophy and in psychology, um and as a result in neuroscience.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is folk psychology and why is it important for everyday social interactions?
0:00–13:58
2
How does Kristin Andrews critique the standard ‘mind‑reading’ view of folk psychology?
13:58–28:43
3
What motivated Andrews to study animal cognition and how did her field work shape the book?
28:43–40:31
4
How does Andrews redefine the role of agents vs. non‑agents in folk psychology?
40:31–52:44
5
What are the main differences between prediction‑focused and explanation‑focused approaches?
52:44–57:52
6
How does the pluralistic model incorporate emotions, traits, and situational cues?
57:52–1:03:15
7
What research programs and methodologies does Andrews propose for future work?
1:03:15–1:05:45
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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