What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality - 1925 Words

Patricia S. Churchland s book entitled Braintrust: What Neuroscience tells Us About Morality, takes us on a walk through the scientific advances in evolutionary biology, genetics and neuroscience that have lead us to the question of wether morality can be explained or justified by science. The goal being an attempt at creating a framework for which to understand human morality. Churchland, a professor at the University of California San Diego in her book asks what is morality? Is it divinely inspired, or instinct, or an abstract set of rules? She argues, that a real understanding of morality begins with an understanding of the brain. Churchland begins by agreeing with the observations of Aristotle, Hume and Darwin that humans are social animal but extends them by asking what they mean in terms of brain physiology. However, David Hume s argument still remains, one cannot deduce what ought to be from something that is. I.e knowing why people lie, will not deduce reasoning behind when it is ok to lie. In this case translating to, â€Å"you cannot derive moral values directly from facts uncovered by science†. This is the basis of the only true respectable type of thought, for most anglo-american philosophers, known as deductive thinking . With this in mind, it seems as though science has no place in our understanding of morality, and therefore no need for the book? However, Churchland argues, without trying to disprove, early on, that this type of philosophical approach in itsShow MoreRelatedTheme Of The Disneyland Of Consciousness1720 Words   |  7 Pagesclip the audience is taken through scenarios and sit uations that portray a sense of a person’s consciousness being made to think that certain animations are in real sense true. Although the scenarios tend to portray childish thought about the actions being seen, what we stimulate in our own reality may not always appear to be the way we want it to be. In this regard, the theme behind the Disneyland of Consciousness is the ability for an individual to explore the animatronics image that is aided byRead MoreLanguage and human identity1466 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿TOK Essay Language is a powerful tool for mankind by hearing speeches or learning in schools makes us believe that we got knowledge through language where in fact it is not always true only by a stronger ability in language could change peoples perspective. It is not just how people communicate it is the way for mankind to see the world in different perspective of different perceptions that are influenced by emotions and cultures. According to BBC.co.uk â€Å"It’s estimated that up to 7,000 differentRead MoreSimple Muscle Movement - Original Writing1521 Words   |  7 Pageswhich you have thought before. ‘I could not smoke,’ you’ve struggle with quitting before. You know it all comes down to choosing not to smoke. 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Student of Wudnt s, E.B. Titchner named Wundt s approach structuralism. William James gave field an American Stamp, invented functionalism Contemporary approaches to psychology Biological Approach (focus on the body) Neuroscience Behavioral Approach (behavioral responses and their environmental determinants) PsychodynamicRead MoreThe Trolley Problem Essay2004 Words   |  9 Pagescausing one person to die to save the five other people and refraining and doing nothing would allow the five to die and the one person to live. The second part of this scenario would put Frank in a very personal position to choose to do something about the situation at hand, or to let five people die; or deliberately push a large person to save the five. This would seem like a very hard choice for most people. The moral issue in question is to look at a large person as the answer to stop the trolleyRead MorePositive Psychology5612 Words   |  23 Pages Corresponding Address Krishan Kumar, M. Sc, M. Phil (M SP), PhD (Pur) Clinical Psychology, Computational Neuroscience National Brain Research Centre, Manesar Email- keshusony@rediffmail.com Ph.no. 9999516319 Dr. Rajiv Dogra Associte Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology Post Graduate College and Medical Sciences, Rohtak Email- Rajeevdogra@rediffmail.com What is positive psychology? Positive psychology (pp) is the scientific study of optimal human functioning. ItRead MoreThe Development of Empathy10581 Words   |  43 Pagesother person’s state. For example, Eisenberg and colleagues (1998) propose that empathy is â€Å"an affective reaction that results from the apprehension or comprehension of another’s emotional state or condition, and that is identical or very similar to what the other person is feeling or would be expected to feel† (p. 702). Decety and Jackson (2004) propose a more cognitive model featuring three functional components that interact to produce an empathic response (see Figure 1). These componentsRead MoreMoral Development During Adolescence Essay8689 Words   |  35 Pageswork an understanding of moral issues such as rights and justice was developed. Hence, Moral development during the adolescent years can be defined as the way young people learn to decide what is right and wrong, which in turn forms the basis of their principles of justice(Hart Carlo 2005). Determinants of morality on adolescents have been focused on moral cognitions and socialisation agents, principally parental influences, as contributed by cognitive developmental and moral socialisation theories