The Ethical Brain
A provocative and fascinating look at new discoveries about the brain that challenge our ethics. The rapid advance of scientific knowledge has raised ethical dilemmas that humankind has never before had to address. Questions about the moment when life technically begins and ends or about the morality of genetically designing babies are now relevant and timely. Our ever-increasing knowledge of the workings of the human brain can guide us in the formation of new moral principles in the twenty-first century. In The Ethical Brain, preeminent neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga presents the emerging social and ethical issues arising out of modern-day brain science and challenges the way we look at them. Courageous and thought-provoking -- a work of enormous intelligence, insight, and importance -- this book explores the hitherto uncharted landscape where science and society intersect.Pt. 1: Life-span neuroethics. Conferring moral status on an embryo ; The aging brain -- Pt. 2: Brain enhancement. Better brains through genes ; Training the brain ; Shaping the smart brain with drugs -- Pt. 3: Free will, personal responsibility and the law. My brain made me do it ; Anti-social thoughts and the right to privacy ; The brain produces a poor autobiography -- Pt. 4: The nature of moral beliefs and the concept of universal ethics. The believing brain ; Toward a universal ethics
