The physiology of truth : neuroscience and human knowledge / Jean-Pierre Changeux ; translated by M.B. DeBevoise.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Changeux, Jean-Pierre.

Series:

Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative

Standardized Title:

Homme de vérité. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Neurosciences.

Brain--Physiology.

Brain.

Knowledge, Theory of.

Mind-brain identity theory.

Science--Methodology.

Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (336 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"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 naïve 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."

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Introduction""; ""1 Thinking Matter""; ""2 The Acquisition of Knowledge""; ""3 States of Consciousness""; ""4 Knowledge and Social Life""; ""5 From Genes to Brain""; ""6 Neuronal Epigenesis and Cultural Evolution""; ""7 Scientific Research and the Search for Truth""; ""8 The Humanity of Science""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""Credits""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-303) and index.

ISBN:

9780674029415

0674029410

OCLC:

842961374