Review
Jean-Pierre Changeux is a man of universal mind, at home equally in philosophy, linguistics, social psychology, neuroscience, molecular biology and computer modelling. The Physiology of Truth is a joy to read, a thrilling book, in which we are guided by Changeux's lucid prose and effortless range of references and perspectives towards what the 21st century clearly promises: a radical understanding, in neurophysiological terms, of how perception, exploration, trial and error, cognitive games, and the cultural sharing of language and consciousness can provide us with representations of reality that are both reliable and profound.
Book Description
In this wide-ranging book, one of the boldest thinkers in modern neuroscience confronts an ancient philosophical problem: can we know the world as it really is?
Drawing on provocative new findings about the psychophysiology of perception and judgment in both human and nonhuman primates, and also on the cultural history of science, Jean-Pierre Changeux makes a powerful case for the reality of scientific progress and argues that it forms the basis for a coherent and universal theory of human rights. On this view, belief in objective knowledge is not a mere ideological slogan or a na�ve confusion; it is a characteristic feature of human cognition throughout evolution, and the scientific method its most sophisticated embodiment. Seeking to reconcile science and humanism, Changeux holds that the capacity to recognize truths that are independent of subjective personal experience constitutes the foundation of a human civil society.
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