On Being Human: Why Mind Matters - Hardcover

Jerome Kagan is emeritus professor of psychology, Harvard University. During his pioneering career in developmental psychology, he received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association, is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and is the author of hundreds of research papers, two textbooks, and fifteen books. He lives in Belmont, MA.

“Kagan is a master prose artisan. . . . Frankly, this book is quite amazing—James Joyce with logic and rigor, or perhaps a twenty-first century version of Montaigne. Reading this book is a rich learning experience for almost anyone.”—Jay Schulkin, Georgetown University (Jay Schulkin)

“This book is Kagan through and through. Smart, informative, engaging.”—Joseph LeDoux, author of Anxious (Joseph LeDoux)

“In these elegantly written essays, Jerome Kagan addresses some of the most compelling aspects of human experience, ranging from morality to mortality. With his characteristic wisdom and frankness, Kagan illuminates fundamental questions concerning the basis of cognition and emotion. I enthusiastically recommend On Being Human to anyone interested in the workings of the human mind.”—Daniel L. Schacter, author of The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers (Daniel L. Schachter)

"Kagan’s arguments are convincing and pose a timely question: How can the social sciences treat the complexity of their subjects responsibly? . . . His quiet insistence on the devastating moral costs of less easily quantifiable sources of human suffering, such as poverty, makes clear the high stakes of this question."—American Scholar (American Scholar)

"Kagan’s thought is easy to follow, his prose pleasant to read, and his opinions clear."—Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)

"On Being Human is an extensive and sharp account of the fundamental issues in psychology. You will not agree with all the reasoning, if you are critical and reflective, but it will make you think. And that, of course, is a mark of an excellent book."—Metapsychology Online Reviews (Metapsychology Online Reviews)