APING MANKIND

Neuroscience has made astounding progress in the understanding of the brain. Wha
t should we make of its claims to go beyond the brain and explain consciousness,
behaviour and culture? Where should we draw the line? In this brilliant critiqu
e Raymond Tallis dismantles "Neuromania", arising out of the idea that we are re
ducible to our brains and "Darwinitis" according to which, since the brain is an
evolved organ, we are entirely explicable within an evolutionary framework. Wit
h precision and acuity he argues that the belief that human beings can be unders
tood in biological terms is a serious obstacle to clear thinking about what we a
re and what we might become.