The Ethical Brain - Hardcover

Gazzaniga, MS

3.75

489 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1932594019 ISBN 13: 9781932594010

Publisher: Chicago University Press, 2005

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Will increased scientific understanding of our brains overturn our beliefs about moral and ethical behavior? How will increasingly powerful brain imaging technologies affect the ideas of privacy and of self-incrimination? Such thought-provoking questions are rapidly emerging as new discoveries in neuroscience have raised difficult legal and ethical dilemmas. Michael Gazzaniga, widely considered to be the father of cognitive neuroscience, investigates with an expert eye some of these controversial and complex issues in "The Ethical Brain."
He first examines "lifespan neuroethics" and considers how brain development defines human life, from when an embryo develops a brain and could be considered "one of us" to the issues raised as the brain ages, such as whether we should have complete freedom to extend our lives and enhance our brains through the use of genetics, pharmaceuticals, and training.
Gazzaniga also considers the challenges posed to the justice system by new discoveries in neuroscience. Recent findings suggest that our brain has already made a decision before we become fully aware of doing so, raising the question of whether the concept of personal responsibility can remain a fundamental tenet of the law. Gazzaniga argues that as neuroscience learns more about the unreliability of human memory, the very foundation of trial law will be challenged.
Gazzaniga then discusses a radical re-evaluation of the nature of moral belief, as he not only looks at possibly manipulating the part of the brain that creates beliefs but also explores how scientific research is building a brain-based account of moral reasoning.
"The Ethical Brain" is a groundbreaking volume that presents neuroscience's loaded findings and their ethical implications in an engaging and readable manner, offering an incisive and thoughtful analysis of the medical ethics challenges confronting modern society at the dawn of the twenty-first century.
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Review:

"A book that's part science and part philosophy, making a convincing plea for an ethical code informed by scientific understanding."

"A book that''s part science and part philosophy, making a convincing plea for an ethical code informed by scientific understanding."

"This [treatment] shows ethical reasoning at its best--rooted in common sense but also informed by a sharp, inquisitive mind and a deep appreciation of the facts."

"A readable, well-informed, and provocative book . . . A refreshingly accessible source of relevant and insightful information about neuroscientific issues of timely import."-The Lancet

"He calls on both sides of his brain to write a book that''s part science and part philosophy, making a convincing plea for an ethical code informed by scientific understanding."-Psychology Today

"Michael Gazzaniga, a leading neuroscientist and member of President Bush''s bioethics council, takes readers on a tour of neuroethics, a moral minefield created by our exploding understanding of the brain. Gazzaniga eschews easy answers in exploring the potential and limits of neuroscience."--USA Today

"If it is the case . . . that all of our thoughts, feelings, and actions are reducible to the level of brain physiology and biochemistry, what becomes of ethics? This is the central question that Michael Gazzaniga addresses in this readable, well-informed, and provocative book."--Stephan L. Chorover, The Lancet -- Stephan L. Chorover "Lancet" (06/18/2005)

"The Ethical Brain is an extraordinary book. Michael Gazzaniga asks profound questions about life, ethics, the brain, reason, and irrationality. His discussion of these issues-ones that perplex ethicists, philosophers, and psychologists-is lucid, provocative, and deeply interesting. This is an important and fascinating book."-Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine -- Kay Redfield Jamison (03/30/2005)

"The Ethical Brain delivers its message with . . . wit, and there is much to learn from its discourses on such topics as increased longevity and how aging works in the brain, the prospects for enhancing natural intelligence through genetics or drugs, and the reliability of lie detectors and other 'mind-reading' devices." -- Lynn Yarris "Mercury News" (08/28/2005)

"Michael Gazzaniga is one of the country''s preeminent brain scientists and a keen observer of much about human behavior. Not content merely to serve on the President''s Council on Bioethics, he took the opportunity to formulate a new understanding of how the emerging field of neuroscience might actually allow us to solve what seem to be so many intractable ethical issues raised by modern medicine. This is a witty, well written, highly informed account of how our brain forms our beliefs and how we can determine what beliefs serve us best."--Robert Bazell, chief health and science correspondent, NBC News

--Robert Bazell (01/03/2005)

About the Author:

Michael S. Gazzaniga, Ph.D, is the David T. McLaughlin Distinguished Professor at and the director of the Center of Cognitive Neuroscience at Dartmouth College. He has served on the President's Council on Bioethics since 2001, is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is the president-elect of the American Psychological Society.

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