Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition
“Illuminating, entertaining and wise.” —Nicholas A. Christakis, Nature

Conscience, a finalist for the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, explores why all social groups have moral systems and how these systems are formed. Distinguished professor Patricia S. Churchland brings together an understanding of the influences of neuroscience, genetics, and physical environment to elucidate how our brains are configured to form bonds and care for children, while also investigating why amoral psychopaths can arise. Churchland then turns to philosophy to understand how morality is transmitted through generations, and why it has become a foundation of all societies. Conscience joins ideas rarely put into dialogue and brings light to a subject that speaks to the meaning of being human.

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Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition
“Illuminating, entertaining and wise.” —Nicholas A. Christakis, Nature

Conscience, a finalist for the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, explores why all social groups have moral systems and how these systems are formed. Distinguished professor Patricia S. Churchland brings together an understanding of the influences of neuroscience, genetics, and physical environment to elucidate how our brains are configured to form bonds and care for children, while also investigating why amoral psychopaths can arise. Churchland then turns to philosophy to understand how morality is transmitted through generations, and why it has become a foundation of all societies. Conscience joins ideas rarely put into dialogue and brings light to a subject that speaks to the meaning of being human.

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Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition

Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition

by Patricia Churchland
Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition

Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition

by Patricia Churchland

Paperback

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Overview

“Illuminating, entertaining and wise.” —Nicholas A. Christakis, Nature

Conscience, a finalist for the PEN / E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, explores why all social groups have moral systems and how these systems are formed. Distinguished professor Patricia S. Churchland brings together an understanding of the influences of neuroscience, genetics, and physical environment to elucidate how our brains are configured to form bonds and care for children, while also investigating why amoral psychopaths can arise. Churchland then turns to philosophy to understand how morality is transmitted through generations, and why it has become a foundation of all societies. Conscience joins ideas rarely put into dialogue and brings light to a subject that speaks to the meaning of being human.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393358469
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 11/24/2020
Pages: 240
Sales rank: 346,328
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Patricia Churchland is the author of Touching a Nerve: Our Brains, Our Selves. She is professor emerita of philosophy at the University of California, San Diego, and the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Wired to Care 1

Chapter 1 The Snuggle for Survival 19

Chapter 2 Getting Attached 44

Chapter 3 Learning and Getting Along 70

Chapter 4 Norms and Values 96

Chapter 5 I'm Just That Way 110

Chapter 6 Conscience and Its Anomalies 126

Chapter 7 What's Love Got to Do with It? 148

Chapter 8 The Practical Side 180

Acknowledgments 193

Notes 195

Index 215

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