Conscience - The Origins of Moral Intuition - Hardcover

Patricia Churchland

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1324000899 ISBN 13: 9781324000891

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019

Synopsis

"Conscience is illuminating, entertaining and wise." Nature

Patricia Churchland, the distinguished founder of neurophilosophy, reaches beyond the familiar argument of nature versus nurture to bring together insights from philosophy and revolutionary research in neuroscience. Scientific research may not be able to say with certainty what is ethical, and the definition of morality varies from person to person. Still, from birth, our brains are configured to form bonds, to cooperate and to care. In that way, children encode the norms, values and behaviour that their parents embrace.

Delving into research studies, including ground-breaking work on twins and psychopaths, Churchland deepens our understanding of the brain's role in creating an ethical system. She then turns to philosophy that of Socrates, Aquinas and contemporary thinkers like Owen Flanagan to explore why morality is central to all societies, how it is transmitted through the generations and why different cultures live by different moral systems.

About this title

Review:

"...[Churchland's] conclusion - that conscience is not as fixed or universal as we might like to think - is a fascinating and provocative one. Even if it lacks the reassuring certainty of the Ten Commandments." --Economia

Patricia S. Churchland has done it again! She wisely guides readers on a lively romp through recent research in neuroscience, genetics, evolution, psychology, psychiatry, anthropology, economics, politics, and philosophy in order to reach a more complete understanding of how and why we can get along despite our deep disagreements about what is wrong or right. This fun and fascinating journey shows why morality cannot be fully understood without the wide variety of perspectives and of scientific information that this tour de force provides. --Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, author of Think Again

No one blends philosophy and neuroscience as well as Patricia S. Churchland. Here she provides a much-needed correction to the usual emphasis on reasoning and logic in moral philosophy. Our judgements are guided by ancient intuitions and brain processes shared with other mammals. --Frans de Waal, author of Mama's Last Hug

About the Author:

Patricia Churchland is the author of, most recently, 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. She lives in San Diego.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1324000899
• ISBN 13: 9781324000891
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272