This book was published by Oxford University Press in July 2010.
Further information may be found at
the OUP web site.
The following is an extract from the preface.
"This book is about beliefs. It was born from my dissatisfaction with
the attempts of many physicists to sell a vision of the world whose
`objective' character disregards most of what makes life
interesting. The attempt to separate science from human values and
judgements has been of immense value, but it has led in some strange
directions. If the brain is no more than a collection of neurons
functioning according to physical laws, then it is difficult to
understand what everyday conversations could actually mean. If the
notion of purpose has no function in a wholly material world, how is
one to make sense of kidney transplants? It seems apparent that we
cannot make any sense of our lives without reference to notions such
as purpose, cause, meaning and ethics, even if fundamental physics
makes no reference to them. Something surely needs to be explained.
At the highest level beliefs become world-views, fundamental beliefs
that we use to evaluate other beliefs about the world. They range
from the belief that every aspect of reality can ultimately be
explained scientifically to young Earth creationism. Needless to say
these are not the only options! Some people believe that matter is
composed of atoms which move according to definite laws but that
this fact does not undermine the validity of religious ideas."