Morality.docx

Morality Moral cognition is a case study in the complex interactions of many of the topics we discussed Morality is founded in philosophy Four broad approaches to Morality (What is the right thing to do Virtue ethics (Aristotole) Whatever a good person would do Person Focused Deontology (Kant) W...

Morality Moral cognition is a case study in the complex interactions of many of the topics we discussed Morality is founded in philosophy Four broad approaches to Morality (What is the right thing to do Virtue ethics (Aristotole) Whatever a good person would do Person Focused Deontology (Kant) Whatever is in line with the moral rules and obligations Rules focused Consequentialism (Bentham/Mill) Whatever maximizes utility Outcome focuded Contractualism (Scanlon) Whatever we would rationally collectively agree to do Group focused The trolley problem: The switch case Switch Case Classic switch Footbridge case Push the man off of the bridge and onto the tracks Why the differences in the cases The traditional. Philosophical answer: The Doctrin of Double Effect (DDE) It is permissible to cause a harm as a side effect of bringing about a good result even thought it would not be permissible to cause such a harm as a means to bringing about the same good end This is a NORMATIVE explanation about a reasoned moral truth One more recent explanation: Any difference is just people being irrational Do the math This is a DESCRIPTIVE explanation Basic idea: Your being overwhelmed by emotion in the footbridge case Implicit background normative assumption: Consequentialism is the right moral theory Dual Systems theory of Moral Jusgement by Josh Greene Use reverse inference Areas associated with emotion show more activity in these moral dillemas Remember, however, emotion s are represented by several brain areas Just because one brain area is active doesn’t mean that the emotion that is expressed is from this area Is emotion the enemy of good moral decision making? Koenigs et al. 2007 Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgement Psychopaths are more utilitarian And you don’t have to have brain damage to make psychotic decisiosn Human morality arises from a complex interaction of REASONING and EMOTION Are there cases of people who have difficulty representing theory of mind? How do moral judgements change when you have difficulty representing information about mental states Grase and Theory of mind plays an important role in decision making Young et al. 2009 TMS disrupts the right temporoparietal junction, which reduces the role of beliefs in moral judgement Innate structure How do we learn right from wrong Traditional Answer: Your parents teach you through reinforcement learning Chomsky: Maybe there is some innate internal structure that helps us distinguish right from wrong Perhaps from watching what works and what doesn’t, a child may be able to distinguish how to get ot the right outcome? If morality does arise from some innate structure, do we all share the same sense of morality Barret et al. High/Low intent has no effect on moral judgement in Yasawa and Hazda;