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Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality
Abstract
What is morality? Where does it come from? And why do most of us heed its call most of the time? In Braintrust , neurophilosophy pioneer Patricia Churchland argues that morality originates in the biology of the brain. She describes the "neurobiological platform of bonding" that, modified by evolutionary pressures and cultural values, has led to human styles of moral behavior. The result is a provocative genealogy of morals that asks us to reevaluate the priority given to religion, absolute rules, and pure reason in accounting for the basis of morality. Moral values, Churchland argues, are rooted in a behavior common to all mammals--the caring for offspring. The evolved structure, processes, and chemistry of the brain incline humans to strive not only for self-preservation but for the well-being of allied selves--first offspring, then mates, kin, and so on, in wider and wider "caring" circles. Separation and exclusion cause pain, and the company of loved ones causes pleasure; responding to feelings of social pain and pleasure, brains adjust their circuitry to local customs. In this way, caring is apportioned, conscience molded, and moral intuitions instilled. A key part of the story is oxytocin, an ancient body-and-brain molecule that, by decreasing the stress response, allows humans to develop the trust in one another necessary for the development of close-knit ties, social institutions, and morality. A major new account of what really makes us moral, Braintrust challenges us to reconsider the origins of some of our most cherished values.
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“Emergent systems-level capacities lie at the heart of individual well-being, group selection, and our hypersocial life history strategy [2], [10].”
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“molecular indicators of human well-being such as the CTRA and blood-informative transcripts (BIT) [12], [64] may add a new dimension to social, cultural, and political discourse by providing objective leading indicators of human biological well-being”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Churchland, P. S.
- Corresponding author
- Churchland, Patricia S.
- Venue
- Princeton University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
- Published
- 2011-12-31
- OpenAlex
- W4235857332
- Cited by
- 325
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 9.78
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Princeton University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophical Ethics and Theory
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- origin of morality, neurobiology of morality, social bonding, oxytocin, kin selection, moral intuitions, conscience, evolution of morality, religion and morality, moral absolutism, trust, Patricia Churchland
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