Conference: Biological Foundations of Morality
This post is based on a submission by reader Professor Daniel Bitran.
Announcement #
From the conference event page:
How does what we are learning about the brain through neuroscience and evolutionary science influence how we ought to think about ethics?
Recent advances in functional neuroimaging have increased scientists' understanding of how our brains process moral decisions. Some thinkers suggest that moral decision making is fundamentally an intuitive or emotional process, and that what we call "reason" is a post-decision making method of justification for actions, not a "higher order" process for making decisions.
If so, the new science challenges the principle of free will, the argument that reason is the foundation of moral decision making, and the importance of understanding intentions before judging responsibility for action. The potential implications for most Western ethical traditions are enormous.
(Formatting added by The Metaist.)
The conference is Thursday-Friday, March 18-19, 2010 at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.
See Also #
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Conference page for a list of speakers and recordings.
Updates #
2011-09-20 #
- Updated links to conference.