Main description:

Scientists no longer accept the existence of a distinct moral organ as phrenologists once did. A generation of young neurologists is using advanced technological medical equipment to unravel specific brain processes enabling moral cognition. In addition, evolutionary psychologists have formulated hypotheses about the origins and nature of our moral architecture. Little by little, the concept of a 'moral brain' is reinstated.

As the crossover between disciplines focusing on moral cognition was rather limited up to now, this book aims at filling the gap. Which evolutionary biological hypotheses provide a useful framework for starting new neurological research? How can brain imaging be used to corroborate hypotheses concerning the evolutionary background of our species?

In this reader, a broad range of prominent scientists and philosophers shed their expert view on the current accomplishments and future challenges in the field of moral cognition and assess how cooperation between neurology and evolutionary psychology can boost research into the field of the moral brain.

Contents:

Introduction - Jan Verplaetse, Johan Braeckman, Jelle De Schrijver The Immoral Brain - Andrea L. Glenn & Adrian Raine 'Extended Attachment' and the Human Brain: internalized cultural values and evolutionary implications - Jorge Moll & Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza Neuro-cognitive Systems Involved in Moral Reasoning - James Blair Empathy and Morality: Integrating social and neuroscience approaches - Jean Decety & C. Daniel Batson Moral Judgment and the Brain: a functional approach to the question of emotion and cognition in moral judgment integrating psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary biology - Kristin Prehn & Hauke R. Heekeren Moral Dysfunction: theoretical model and potential neurosurgical treatments - Dirk De Ridder, Berthold Langguth, Mark Plazier & Tomas Menovsky Does it Pay to be Good? Competing evolutionary explanations of pro-social behaviour - Matthijs van Veelen How can Evolution and Neuroscience Help us Understand Moral Capacities? - Randolph Nesse Runaway Social Selection for Displays of Partner Value and Altruism - Randolph Nesse The Evolved Brain: Understanding Religious Ethics and Religious Violence - John Teehan An Evolutionary and Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective on Moral Modularity - Jelle De Schrijver