Braintrust - What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality

Moral values, Churchland argues, are rooted in a behavior common to all mammals--the caring for offspring. The evolved structure, processes, and chemistry of the brain incline humans to strive not only for self-preservation but for the well-being of allied selves--first offspring, then mates, kin, and so on, in wider and wider "caring" circles. Separation and exclusion cause pain, and the company of loved ones causes pleasure; responding to feelings of social pain and pleasure, brains adjust their circuitry to local customs. In this way, caring is apportioned, conscience molded, and moral intuitions instilled. A key part of the story is oxytocin, an ancient body-and-brain molecule that, by decreasing the stress response, allows humans to develop the trust in one another necessary for the development of close-knit ties, social institutions, and morality.

About the author

Patricia S. Churchland
With a new preface by the author

Summary

What is morality? Where does it come from? And why do most of us heed its call most of the time? In Braintrust, neurophilosophy pioneer Patricia Churchland argues that morality originates in the biology of the brain. She describes the "neurobiological platform of bonding" that, modified by evolutionary pressures and cultural values, has led to huma

Additional text

"Researchers interested in cooperation, moral psychology, and empirically-informed metaethics could happily and rewardingly immerse themselves in Braintrust."---Benjamin James Fraser, Biology and Philosophy

Product details

• Authors: Patricia Churchland, Patricia S. Churchland, Churchland Patricia S.
• Assisted by: Patricia S. Churchland (Foreword), Churchland Patricia S. (Foreword)
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.06.2018
• EAN: 9780691180977
• ISBN: 978-0-691-18097-7
• No. of pages: 273
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 217 mm x 23 mm
• Series: Princeton Science Library; Princeton Science Library
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); popular science, PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, MEDICAL / Neuroscience, PSYCHOLOGY / Applied Psychology, PSYCHOLOGY / Neuropsychology, Physiological & neuro-psychology, biopsychology, Ethics & moral philosophy