AbstractThis article reviews recent ideas about visual pathways and mechanisms in the brains of human and non-human primates that support social cognition. It shows how the detection of visual cues provides a basis for guiding the observer's behaviour in ways that are based on the current and likely future behaviour of others. These visual mechanisms underpin social cognition, but do not rely on understanding others' minds. They provide what one could call a ‘mechanistic’ description of others' behaviour and of social events in terms of constituent components of actions, their causes and consequences, and expected future occurrence. The article argues that the superior temporal sulcus forms the prime neural substrate for forming descriptions of the ‘mechanics’ of social events.