PHIL 325

Neuroscience and Ethics

• Neuroscience of ethics – The study of how brain structures and functions underlie moral cognition, emotions, and decision-making. It investigates how people make ethical judgments at the neural level.

• Ethics of neuroscience – The ethical concerns related to neuroscience, including issues like cognitive enhancement, neuroprivacy, and the moral implications of neuroscience research.

Branches of Ethics

• Metaethics – Studies the nature of morality itself, including moral language, metaphysics, and epistemology (e.g., "Are moral values objective?").

• Normative ethics – Examines principles and theories that guide moral behavior (e.g., utilitarianism, deontology).

• Applied ethics – The application of moral principles to real-world issues (e.g., medical ethics, environmental ethics).

Ethical Theories and Principles

• Utilitarianism (a form of Consequentialism) – A moral theory stating that the right action maximizes overall happiness or well-being.

• Greatest Happiness Principle – The idea that actions are right insofar as they promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number.

• Standard of morality vs. decision procedure –

  • Standard of morality (moral criterion) – A principle that defines what makes an action right or wrong.

  • Decision procedure – A method or process for making moral decisions based on that standard.

• The “worthy only of swine” objection – A criticism of utilitarianism arguing that it reduces human morality to the pursuit of mere pleasure, akin to how animals seek pleasure.

Deontology and Kantian Ethics

• Deontological ethical theory – A moral theory emphasizing duties and rules rather than consequences (e.g., Kantian ethics).

• Categorical Imperative – Kant’s supreme moral principle, requiring actions to be universalizable and treating humans as ends, not merely as means.

• Maxim – A personal principle or rule guiding action.

• Formula of the End in Itself – Kant’s idea that people should always be treated as valuable individuals, never merely as tools for another’s goals.

• Means vs. mere means – The distinction between using others respectfully (means) versus exploiting them (mere means).

• Formula of the Law of Nature – A test of moral permissibility: act as if your action’s maxim were a universal law of nature.

Neuroscience Terminology

• Anterior/posterior – Anterior = front; posterior = back.

• Superior/inferior – Superior = above; inferior = below.

• Dorsal/ventral – Dorsal = toward the back (top of the brain); ventral = toward the belly (bottom of the brain).

• Lateral/medial – Lateral = toward the sides; medial = toward the middle.

• Coronal/sagittal/horizontal – Different planes for slicing the brain:

  • Coronal = vertical slice (ear to ear)

  • Sagittal = vertical slice (front to back, splitting left/right)

  • Horizontal = flat slice (parallel to the ground)

Brain Structures and Functions

• Gyrus, sulcus, fissure, ventricle –

  • Gyrus = ridges of the brain

  • Sulcus = shallow grooves between gyri

  • Fissure = deep grooves separating brain regions

  • Ventricle = fluid-filled spaces inside the brain

• Functional localization – The idea that different brain areas serve different functions.

• Korbinian Brodmann (Brodmann’s areas) – Neurologist who mapped the cerebral cortex into regions based on their cellular structure, linked to functions.

Neuroscience Basics

• Neuron, Glia –

  • Neuron = nerve cell that transmits signals.

  • Glia = support cells that aid neurons.

• The Neuron Doctrine – The theory that neurons are the fundamental units of the nervous system, communicating via electrical and chemical signals.

• Cell body, dendrite, axon, synapse, action potential, neurotransmitter –

  • Cell body – The neuron's core.

  • Dendrite – Receives signals from other neurons.

  • Axon – Sends signals.

  • Synapse – Gap where neurons communicate.

  • Action potential – Electrical impulse traveling down an axon.

  • Neurotransmitter – Chemicals that transfer signals between neurons.

• Central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nervous system (PNS) –

  • CNS = brain and spinal cord.

  • PNS = nerves outside the CNS.

Brain Organization

• Forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain – Evolutionary brain divisions.

• Cerebral cortex – The outermost brain layer, responsible for higher cognition.

• Frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal lobes –

  • Frontal = decision-making, personality, motor control.

  • Parietal = sensory integration, spatial reasoning.

  • Occipital = vision.

  • Temporal = hearing, memory, language.

• Broad vs. narrow uses of ‘cognition’ –

  • Broad = all mental processes.

  • Narrow = higher-order reasoning only.

• Implicit vs. explicit processes –

  • Implicit (System 1) = fast, automatic, emotional.

  • Explicit (System 2) = slow, effortful, rational.

• Prefrontal cortex (PFC) – Associated with decision-making, planning, and self-control.

Moral Cognition and Psychology

• Brain regions in moral cognition (Greene’s theory) – Emotional areas (e.g., amygdala) vs. cognitive areas (e.g., PFC).

• Processing vs. representational approaches – Whether cognition is about transformations of data (processing) or storage of concepts (representation).

• Greene’s dual-process account of moral judgment – Emotional responses (System 1) vs. controlled reasoning (System 2).

• Trolley cases (switch vs. footbridge) – Thought experiments distinguishing impersonal (switch) vs. personal (footbridge) moral dilemmas.

• Process vs. content – Whether moral psychology tells us about how we judge (process) or what we judge (content).

• Confound (confounding factor) – An extraneous variable that affects experimental results.

• Unifying moral judgment features – Potential shared aspects of moral judgments (content, phenomenology, etc.).

Metaethics and Free Will

• Hume’s “is/ought gap” – You cannot derive moral prescriptions from factual statements.

• G.E. Moore’s “naturalistic fallacy” – The error of defining morality purely in natural terms.

• Moral realism – Moral facts exist independently of human beliefs.

• Moral anti-realism – Morality is subjective or constructed.

• Error theory – All moral statements are false.

• Non-cognitivism – Moral statements express emotions, not facts.

• Evolutionary debunking arguments – Morality evolved, so it may not track objective truth.

• Doctrine of Double Effect – Actions with good and bad effects are permissible if the bad effect isn’t intended.

• Free will, causal determinism, compatibilism, incompatibilism, libertarianism –

  • Free will = ability to choose.

  • Causal determinism = all events are caused.

  • Compatibilism = free will + determinism coexist.

  • Incompatibilism = determinism undermines free will.

  • Libertarianism = humans have genuine free will.

• Neuroscientific bypassing – When neuroscience undermines traditional views of free will.

• Libet’s experiments, Type II readiness potentials – Studies on unconscious brain activity before conscious decisions.

• Volition (initiation, decision-making, control/guidance) – Different aspects of free will.