Are human beings really unique? Is each person the product of his or her own personal history and of the influences exercised by background and culture? Or, are the basic mechanisms governing behaviour and the capacity to acquire knowledge and to communicate determined by human genetic heritage?
In this book, Jacques Mehler and Emmanuel Dupoux provide evidence supporting the theory of genetic heritage. Through the experimental study of the psychic life and fascinating predispositions of new-borns, the authors demonstrate that we all share a common “human nature”.
This is an original, clear and inspired introduction to the cognitive sciences, announcing a truly scientific approach to psychology.
It has already become a classic.

Jacques Mehler is the former director of the Laboratory of cognitive sciences and psycholinguistics at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, a pioneering research centre in France.
Emmanuel Dupoux succeeded him as director of the Laboratory.