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Established wisdom in cognitive science holds that the everyday
folk psychological abilities of humans-our capacity to understand
intentional actions performed for reasons-are inherited from our
evolutionary forebears. In Folk Psychological Narratives, Daniel
Hutto challenges this view (held in somewhat different forms by the
two dominant approaches, "theory theory" and simulation theory) and
argues for the sociocultural basis of this familiar ability. He makes
a detailed case for the idea that the way we make sense of intentional
actions essentially involves the construction of narratives about
particular persons. Moreover he argues that children acquire this
practical skill only by being exposed to and engaging in a distinctive
kind of narrative practice.
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