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The Neural Basis of Morality. The naturalistic fallacy revisited| old_uid | 1802 |
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| title | The Neural Basis of Morality. The naturalistic fallacy revisited |
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| start_date | 2006/11/22 |
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| schedule | 17h |
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| online | no |
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| summary | The explanatory relevance of neuroscience to moral thought presupposes an informed materialist model of the mind and the brain that takes variability, emotions and creative thinking into account. According to informed materialism the brain is a variable, selectional system in which values are incorporated as necessary constraints. Biologically speaking, no creature with a brain is born value-free; it is neurobiologically predisposed to develop these complex and varied systems of values that enable it to function in its physical and social environments. In this model, the human propensity for passing moral judgment and capacity to perform free and responsible moral choices do not only make logical and practical sense but are biologically unavoidable for adult, healthy individuals. Four innate closely related preferential tendencies have evolved in the human species: self-interest, desire for control and security, dissociation from what is considered disagreeable or threatening (e.g., our own body, or nature), and selective sympathy versus antipathy towards others, both of which presuppose empathy (understanding) of others. Empathy is directed to far larger groups than sympathy: by nature, humans are empathetic xenophobes typically dissociating themselves from most other creatures. The neurobiology of sympathy and antipathy, and our numerous ‘we-they’ distinctions, as expressed, e.g., in racial or ethnic attitudes, are increasingly being studied. It is an important task for neuroscience to diagnose the human predicament in neurobiological terms, knowledge that can be useful, e.g., in the development of educational structures, or in the assessment of methods to remedy social problems. The theoretical and methodological relevance of neuroscience to ethics is strong and fast developing. According to the theory of neuronal epigenesis, socio-cultural and neuronal structures develop symbiotically with mutual causal relevance. The architecture of our brains determines our social behaviour including our moral dispositions, which influences the types of society that we create, and, vice versa, our socio-cultural structures influence the development of our brains. This is compatible with the position that norms cannot logically be derived from facts on pain of committing the naturalistic fallacy, which is an irrelevant objection to informed materialism. |
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| responsibles | Fagot-Largeault, Changeux |
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