The moral brain : a multidisciplinary perspective /
edited by Jean Decety and Thalia Wheatley.
- Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, (c)2015.
- 1 online resource (x, 327 pages) : illustrations.
- Social neuroscience .
Includes bibliographies and index.
Evolution of morality -- Motivations of morality -- The development of morality -- The affective and social neuroscience of morality -- Psychopathic immorality -- Considerations and implications for justice and law. The evolution of morality : a comparative approach / Adaptationist approaches to moral psychology / Partner choice and the evolution of a contractualist morality / Is the Moral Brain Ever Dispassionate? / Devoted actors and the moral foundations of intractable intergroup conflict / Why we cooperate / The infantile origins of our moral brains / Mechanisms of moral development / The neurocognitive development of moral judgments : the role of executive function / Girl uninterrupted : the neural basis of moral development among adolescent females / Neural correlates of human morality : an overview / The cognitive neuroscience of moral judgment and decision making / Neuromodulators and the (in)stability of moral cognition / Immorality in the adult brain / The moral brain : psychopathology / Neuroscience versus phenomenology and the implications for justice / The equivocal relationship between morality and empathy / Laurent Prétôt and Sarah Brosnan -- Andrew W. Delton and Max M. Krasnow -- Nicolas Baumard and Mark Sheskin -- Jesse Prinz -- Scott Atran and Jeremy Ginges -- Jillian Jordan, Alexander Peysakhovich, and David G. Rand -- J. Kiley Hamlin -- Joshua Rottman and Liane Young -- Ayelet Lahat -- Abigail A. Baird and Emma V. Roellke -- Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Roland Zahn, and Jorge Moll -- Joshua D. Greene -- Molly J. Crockett and Regina A. Rini -- Rheanna J. Remmel and Andrea L. Glenn -- Caroline Moul, David Hawes, and Mark Dadds -- Thalia Wheatley -- Jean Decety and Jason M. Cowell.
"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"--Provided by publisher.