The Moral Brain: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

by Jean Decety (Editor), Thalia Wheatley (Editor)

Overview

An overview of the latest interdisciplinary research on human morality, capturing moral sensibility as a sophisticated integration of cognitive, emotional, and motivational mechanisms.

Over the past decade, an explosion of empirical research in a variety of fields has allowed us to understand human moral sensibility as a sophisticated integration of cognitive, emotional, and motivational mechanisms shaped through evolution, development, and culture. Evolutionary biologists have shown that moral cognition evolved to aid cooperation; developmental psychologists have demonstrated that the elements that underpin morality are in place much earlier than we thought; and social neuroscientists have begun to map brain circuits implicated in moral decision making. This volume offers an overview of current research on the moral brain, examining the topic from disciplinary perspectives that range from anthropology and neurophilosophy to justice and law.

The contributors address the evolution of morality, considering precursors of human morality in other species as well as uniquely human adaptations. They examine motivations for morality, exploring the roles of passion, extreme sacrifice, and cooperation. They go on to consider the development of morality, from infancy to adolescence; findings on neurobiological mechanisms of moral cognition; psychopathic immorality; and the implications for justice and law of a more biological understanding of morality. These new findings may challenge our intuitions about society and justice, but they may also lead to more a humane and flexible legal system.

Contributors
Scott Atran, Abigail A. Baird, Nicolas Baumard, Sarah Brosnan, Jason M. Cowell, Molly J. Crockett, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Andrew W. Delton, Mark R. Dadds, Jean Decety, Jeremy Ginges, Andrea L. Glenn, Joshua D. Greene, J. Kiley Hamlin, David J. Hawes, Jillian Jordan, Max M. Krasnow, Ayelet Lahat, Jorge Moll, Caroline Moul, Thomas Nadelhoffer, Alexander Peysakhovich, Laurent Prétôt, Jesse Prinz, David G. Rand, Rheanna J. Remmel, Emma Roellke, Regina A. Rini, Joshua Rottman, Mark Sheskin, Thalia Wheatley, Liane Young, Roland Zahn

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262327596
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	03/06/2015
Series:	The MIT Press
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	338
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jean Decety is Irving B. Harris Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, where he is also Director of the Child Neurosuite. He is the coeditor of The Social Neuroscience of Empathy and The Moral Brain and the editor of Empathy: From Bench to Bedside, all published by the MIT Press.

Thalia Wheatley is Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth College.

Jesse J. Prinz is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Scott Atran is Research Director in Anthropology at France's National Center for Scientific Research and Visiting Professor of Psychology and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He is the coeditor, with Douglas Medin, of Folkbiology (MIT Press, 1999).

Thalia Wheatley is Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth College.

Jean Decety is Irving B. Harris Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, where he is also Director of the Child Neurosuite. He is the coeditor of The Social Neuroscience of Empathy and The Moral Brain and the editor of Empathy: From Bench to Bedside, all published by the MIT Press.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Complexity of Moral Cognition Requires Multiple and Converging Levels of Analyses vii

I Evolution of Morality

1 The Evolution of Morality: A Comparative Approach Laurent Prétôt Sarah Brosnan 3

2 Adaptationist Approaches to Moral Psychology Andrew W. Delton Max M. Krasnow 19

3 Partner Choice and the Evolution of a Contractualist Morality Nicolas Baumard Mark Sheskin 35

II Motivations of Morality

4 Is the Moral Brain Ever Dispassionate? Jesse Prinz 51

5 Devoted Actors and the Moral Foundations of Intractable Intergroup Conflict Scott Atran Jeremy Ginges 69

6 Why We Cooperate Jillian Jordan, Alexander Peysakhovich David G. Rand 87

III The Development of Morality

7 The Infantile Origins of Our Moral Brains J. Kiley Hamlin 105

8 Mechanisms of Moral Development Joshua Rottman Liane Young 123

9 The Neurocognitive Development of Moral Judgments: The Role of Executive Function Ayelet Lahat 143

10 Girl Uninterrupted: The Neural Basis of Moral Development among Adolescent Females Abigail A. Baird Emma V. Roelike 157

IV The Affective and Social Neuroscience of Morality

11 Neural Correlates of Human Morality: An Overview Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza Roland Zahn Jorge Moll 183

12 The Cognitive Neuroscience of Moral Judgment and Decision Making Joshua D. Greene 197

13 Neuromodulators and the (In)stability of Moral Cognition Molly J. Crockett Regina A. Rini 221

V Psychopathic Immorality

14 Immorality in the Adult Brain Rheanna J. Remmel Andrea L. Glenn 239

15 The Moral Brain: Psychopathology Caroline Moul David Hawes Mark Dadds 253

VI Considerations and Implications for Justice and Law

16 Neuroscience versus Phenomenology and the Implications for Justice Thalia Wheatley 267

17 The Equivocal Relationship between Morality and Empathy Jean Decety Jason M. Cowell 279

Contributors 303

Author index 305

Subject index 321