Hardwired behavior : what neuroscience reveals about morality / Laurence R. Tancredi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tancredi, Laurence R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethics.

Cognitive neuroscience.

Brain--physiology.

Mental Processes--physiology.

Morals.

Neurosciences.

Medical Subjects:

Brain--physiology.

Mental Processes--physiology.

Morals.

Neurosciences.

Physical Description:

xiv, 226 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Summary:

Neuroscience research over the past twenty or more years has brought about a significant change in our perceptions of how the brain affects morality. Findings show that the mind and brain are very close, if not the same, and that the brain 'makes' the mind. This is bringing about a change of focus from examining mental activity ('mentalism') to the physical activity of the brain ('physicalism') to understand thinking and behavior. We are discovering that the physical features of the brain play the major role in shaping our thoughts and emotions, including the way we deal with 'moral' issues. This book sets out the historical framework of the transition from mentalism to physicalism, shows how the physical brain works in moral decisions, and then examines three broad areas of moral decision making: the brain in 'bad' acts, the brain in decisions involving sexual relations, and the brain in money decision making.

Contents:

1 Neuroscience and Morality 1

2 Morality and the Mind 12

3 Beyond the Mind Zone 25

4 The Moral Brain 34

5 Bad without Conscience 46

6 The Biology of Choice 69

7 Sex and the Single Moral Code 84

8 Brain Biology and Sex 97

9 Deception 114

10 The Biology of Money 124

11 The Bad and the Mad 143

12 Creating a Moral Brain 162.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-210) and index.

ISBN:

0521860016

OCLC:

61228745

Publisher Number:

9780521860017