Minds and Morals

Osher Institute, Spring 2008

South Parlor at the Commander's House in Ft Douglas

Bryan Benham & Pat Gay

Recent research from the cognitive sciences and neurosciences have attempted to look at the evolutionary and neural origins of moral decisions and judgments. In this six-week offering, we will survey some of the more prominent claims of this research and examine the philosophical and ethical implications. For example, some researchers claim we have a "moral faculty" in the brain designed to identify when events are morally relevant, and that this moral faculty constrains the type of moral system we are able to learn or act on. Does this mean there is a universal moral system of values that we can discover in virtue of our biological history? What room does this leave for the notion of moral progress, changing moral values for the better? Other topics include the role of emotion and reason in moral decisions, as well as, the notion of moral responsibility and the prospect of freedom of choice/action.

 
Organization: The readings listed below are intended to provide a point of focus for discussion on topics related to morality and the findings of the cognitive and neurosciences. I have included some additional readings (usually in pdf format) for those interested.

 

 

Schedule of Topics and Readings

April 2 Moral Judgments, Reason, and Emotion
 
  • C Zimmer. Whose Life Would You Save? Discover , April 2004: 60-65. (pdf)
  • J Moll and R de Oliveira-Souza. When Morality is Hard to Like. Scientific American Mind Feb/Mar 2008. (pdf)
  • S Pinker. The Moral Instinct. The New York Times , January 13, 2008. (pdf)

Additional Readings:

  • J. Greene. From Neural 'Is" to Moral 'Ought'. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 4 , October 2003: 847-850. (pdf)
  • J. Greene and J. Haidt. How (and Where) Does Moral Judgment Work? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 6 (12), December 2002: 517-523. (pdf)
  • J Moll et al. Morals and the Human Brain: A Working Model. NeuroReport 14 (3), March 3, 2003: 299-305. (pdf)
  • J Haidt. The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to Moral Judgment. Psychological Review 108 (4), 2001: 814-834. (pdf)
  • A Raine and Y Yang. Neural Foundations to Moral Reasoning and Antisocial Behavior. Scan (2006) 1, 203-213. (pdf)
  • Also, general article on moral psychology: empirical approaches at Standford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
   
April 9 Altruism and the Possibility of Morality
 
  • E Fehr and S-V Renninger. The Samaritan Paradox. Scientific American Mind , January 2005: 15-21. (pdf)
  • N Wade. An Evolutionary Theory of Right and Wrong. The New York Times . October 31, 2006. (pdf)

Additional Readings:

  • E Fehr and U Fischbacher. The Nature of Human Altruism. Nature 423, October 23, 2003: 786-791. (pdf)
  • E Fehr. Don't Lose Your Reputation. Nature 432, November 25, 2004: 449-450. (pdf)
  • M Shermer. The Science of Good and Evil . New York: Henry Hold and Company, 2004. Especially Chapter 2.
   
April 16 Empathy and Moral Emotions
 
  • Frans de Waal. The Evolution of Empathy. Greater Good , Fall/winter 2005-06: 6-9. (pdf)
  • D Dobbs. A Revealing Reflection. Scientific American Mind , May/June 2006. (pdf)

Additional Readings

  • JP Tangney et al. Moral Emotions and Moral Behavior. Annual Review of Psychology 58, 2007: 345-372. (pdf)
  • S Blakeslee. Cells that Read Minds. The New York Times. January 10, 2006.
  • L Winerman. The Mind's Mirror. Monitor on Psychology 36 (9). October 2006. (pdf)
  • Mirror Neurons on Nova: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html
  • RJR Blair and L Cipolotti. Impaired Social Response Reversal: A Case of 'Acquired Sociopathy'. Brain (2000), 123, 1122-1141. (pdf)
  • A Raine and Y Yang. Neural Foundations to Moral Reasoning and Antisocial Behavior. Scan (2006) 1, 203-213. (pdf)
  • L Slater. 2006. This Thing Called Love. National Geographic , February: 34-49.
   
April 23 Religion on the Brain
 
  • RM Henig. Darwin's God. New York Times . March 4, 2007. (pdf)
  • D Biello. Searching for God in the Brain. Scientific American Mind , Oct/Nov. 2007. (pdf)

Additional Readings

  • JM Bering. The Cognitive Psychology of Belief in the Supernatural. American Scientist , 94, 2006: 142-149. (pdf)
  • J Horgan. The God Experiments. Discover , December 2006.
  • T Grüter. Secret Powers Everywhere. Scientific American Mind , 2005: 68-73.
   
April 30 Responsibility and Morality
 
  • MS Gazzaniga and MS Steven. Neuroscience and the Law. Scientific American Mind , 2004 43-49. (pdf)

Additional Readings

  • RM Sapolsky. The frontal cortex and the criminal justice system. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B (2004) 359, 1787-1796. (pdf)
  • J. Greene and J Cohen. For the Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B (2004) 359, 1775-1785. (pdf)
  • SS Obhi and P Haggard. Free Will and Free Won't. American Scientist 92, 2004: 358-365. (pdf)
  • D Overbye. Free Will: Now You Have it, Now You Don't. The New York Times , January 2, 2007.
  • J Searle. Between a Rock and a Hard Place. New Scientist , January 13, 2007: 48-49.
   
May 7 Happiness: The End of Ethics
 
  • M Wiederman. 2007. Why It's So Hard to Be Happy. Scientific American Mind. February/March; 36-43. (pdf)

Additional Readings

  • Economics Discovers Its Feelings. The Economist , December 23, 2006; 33-35. (pdf)
  • L Slater. 2006. This Thing Called Love. National Geographic , February: 34-49.