THE PHYSIOLOGY OF TRUTH * Jean-Pierre Changeux * 2004. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press * Price 29.95. * ISBN 0-674-01283-6

Abstract

Eminent French neuroscientists have a tradition of producing books on scientific topics of general interest for a wide audience. Here, Jean-Pierre Changeux draws on provocative new findings about the neuroscience and psychophysics of perception and judgement both in humans and in non-human primates. His case is that belief in objective knowledge is a characteristic feature of human cognition, and the scientific method its most sophisticated embodiment. Professor Changeux seeks to explain the ways in which modern science has made it possible to understand how language, truth and even morals are related to our genes and gene products, and to interactions with the environment. Changeux promises a radical understanding in neurophysiological terms of how perception, exploration, trial and error, cognitive games, the cultural sharing of language, and consciousness, can provide us with representations of reality that are both reliable and profound. In doing this, he draws on neuroscience, molecular biology, computer modelling, philosophy, linguistics and social psychology. The thesis of The Physiology of Truth is that our brains have evolved to provide representations of the world and to make judgements about it that are useful for action. Some of these actions take place in social contexts and involve planning many steps ahead. In order to operate in this realm, the brain has needed to develop an understanding of social systems, strategies to achieve goals, and useful heuristics for guiding behaviour, including social behaviour. These heuristics lead Changeux to consider the biological background to morality and how …