Origins of Possession: Owning and Sharing in Development

338 Pages·2014·1.513 MB·English

by  Philippe Rochat

Origins of Possession
Humanpossessionpsychologyoriginatesfromdeeplyrootedexperien-
tialcapacitiessharedwithotheranimals.However,unlikeotheranimals,
weareauniquelyself-consciousspeciesconcernedwithreputation,and
possessionsaffectourperceptionofhowweexistintheeyesofothers.
This book discusses the psychology surrounding the ways in which
humansexperiencepossession,claimownership,andshare,fromboth
a developmental and a cross-cultural perspective. Philippe Rochat
explorestheoriginsofhumanpossessionanditssymbolicdevelopment
acrosscultures.Heproposesthathumanpossessionpsychologyispar-
ticularly revealing ofhuman nature,and also thesource ofourelusive
moralsense.
PHILIPPEROCHATisProfessorofPsychologyatEmoryUniversity
inAtlantaandtheheadoftheEmoryInfantandChildLaboratory.His
researchfocusesonthedevelopmentaloriginsofhumanself-awareness
andsocialcognitionininfantsandchildrengrowingupindifferentsocial
and cultural circumstances. His work includes Others in Mind
(Cambridge University Press, 2009), The Infant’s World (2001), Early
SocialCognition(1999),andTheSelfinInfancy(1995).

Origins of Possession
Owning and Sharing in Development
Philippe Rochat
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
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©PhilippeRochat2014
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Firstpublished2014
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Rochat,Philippe,1950–
Originsofpossession:owningandsharingindevelopment/PhilippeRochat.
pages cm
ISBN978-1-107-03212-5(hardback)
1. Property–Socialaspects. 2. Property–Psychological
aspects. 3. Possessiveness. I. Title.
HM856.R63 2014
306.302–dc23
2014006986
ISBN978-1-107-03212-5Hardback
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Contents
ForewordbyJeromeS.Bruner pagevii
Preface ix
Introduction:makingsenseofhumanpossession 1
PartI Psychology:principlesofhumanpossession 19
1 Experiencingpossession 21
2 Claimingownership 46
3 Possessionandownershiptransfer 75
4 Symbolicspinoffsofpossession 106
PartII Development:humanontogenyofpossession 141
5 Firstpossession 143
6 Ownershipindevelopment 172
7 Sharingindevelopment 204
PartIII Culture:humanpossessionincontext 233
8 Cultureandpossession 235
9 Possessioninchildrenacrosscultures 255
Conclusion:GreatTransformation 289
References 297
Index 315
v

Foreword
Itisaprivilege,thoughasomewhatdauntingone,tointroducethereader
to this striking book. For though the subject of possession is an ancient
one, it is a forever difficult and controversial one. While “possessing”
somethingisacrucialfeatureofwhatwecallownership,itisbynomeans
theonlyaspectofthatconventionalizedphenomenon.Indeed,asRochat
puts it, the “transition from possession to property” is the main issue of
thischallengingbook.
Itisarguedthatthis“possession-to-propertytransition”isgovernedby
three distinctively human characteristics: human self-consciousness,
humansymboliccapacity,andcharacteristicallyprolongedhumanimma-
turity, and this volume sets forth a rich and detailed account of each of
these.
WhatisparticularlystrikingaboutRochat’saccountofthistransitionis
the breadth and depth of his inquiry. This is a scholarly book in the
deepestsense.Itscansavastbodyofliteratureandtreatsitwithgenuine
respect – whether it is in a close look at Aristotelian essays, particularly
wellexplored,orinconsideringthemostrecentliteratureonthebehavior
of young infants carried out in the last decade or two. Indeed, the dis-
cussionofchangingconceptionsofmindintheearlyandlatenineteenth
century as well as in our own times is masterly – not to mention his
rethinking of the years leading to the French Revolution at the close of
theeighteenthcentury.
It is no exaggeration to classify this book as an excursion into the
cultural history of our conceptions of human development, and yet we
mustrecognizeitsvividcontemporaneityasanexerciseinclassicintellec-
tual history. I, for example, am currently much concerned with the
evolution of legal systems (as in my recent Making Stories: Law,
Literature,Life(2002)).Iwishtherehadbeentheopportunityofreading
Rochat’sbookbeforeI’dwrittenmine!
vii
viii Foreword
One last point. I have long felt that the human sciences risk super-
ficialitybymovingfurtherandfurtherfromtheclassicepistemicconcerns
ofphilosophy–concernsaboutthenatureof“knowing.”Iseethisbookas
a sign that things are changing. For surely it is concerned as much with
epistemologyaswithpsychology.Andsoitshouldbe!
JeromeS.Bruner