When Minds Converse argues that we do not speak because our human minds are special; our minds are special because we can speak. It maintains that six capacities characteristic of our species emerge as social skills in conversing with one another and that we internalize those skills in mentally communing with ourselves in thought. Philip Pettit defends a society-first view of the human mind and more broadly, the human soul, gesturing at how this philosophical anthropology can support universal ideals of equality, respect and freedom. Three of the abilities the book targets involve informational processing. Our capacity to update our beliefs and other attitudes intentionally, seeking out the judgments that we ought to make and the attitudes we ought to hold. Our capacity to rely on intentional reasoning, looking for the grounds on which to support judgments and looking at what our judgments in turn support. And our ability to direct perception intentionally, as we recruit it to the
