Toward a Common Morality

Symposium September 11, 2009

Discoveries in neuroscience and in particular neurotechnology have provided a unique window through which we can glance into the intricate workings of the human brain. Technologies such as brain scanning using positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging have enabled us to now monitor and understand the detailed geographical representation of human emotions, feelings, and thoughts within the brain. Yet, as these technologies have evolved, they have also highlighted the fundamental limitations that currently exist in our understanding of the human mind; namely, what is the nature of the relationship between the brain and the mind? What is it that makes us human and provides us with the qualities that distinguish us from all other beings? And how do the myriad of electrical and chemical processes we know of within the brain lead to an individual with unique feelings, thoughts, and emotions?

In this third and final conference, the participants will discuss the phenomenological and spiritual characteristics of human subjective experience, the neurophysiological and psychological basis of these domains, as well as the roles they play in the process of practical reasoning and moral decision making. The emphasis will be upon elucidating how and why an understanding of the integrative neuroscience of the brain-mind not only compels but sustains an appreciation for reverence and virtue—in the sense of cognitive intention and expressed actions—while providing a natural foundation for the emergence of a system of common morality. In addressing the empirical record for the moral and spiritual dimension of human experience, participants will discuss the viability of neurocentric justification for reverence and virtue, neuro-phenomenological explanations for intellectual and moral virtues, and the concept of morality and ethics as a core human ecology.

Panel

  • Leili Anvar
  • William Casebeer
  • Kevin FitzGerald
  • James Giordano
  • Andrew B. Newberg
  • Roger Scruton
  • Maxwell R. Bennett
  • Martha J. Farah
  • Bernard Gert
  • Farhad Mechkat
  • Donald W. Pfaff

Details

  • Friday, September 11, 2009
  • 9:30 am - 5:30 pm

  • The United Nations
    Conference Room 3

Sponsors

The Neuroscience of Fair Play - Donald Pfaff Sep 11, 2009 21:57 973

Highlights

  • Universal Morality, Inclusivity, and the Brain - Andrew Newberg Sep 11, 2009 28:13 1694
  • Universal Morality, Inclusivity, and the Brain - Andrew Newberg Sep 11, 2009 28:13 1694
  • The Impact of Brain Function on the Concept of Criminality - Max Bennett Sep 11, 2009 33:02 833
  • The Impact of Brain Function on the Concept of Criminality - Max Bennett Sep 11, 2009 33:02 833
  • The More We Understand, The Less We Understand - Martha J. Farah Sep 11, 2009 29:31 1434
  • The More We Understand, The Less We Understand - Martha J. Farah Sep 11, 2009 29:31 1434
  • Persons and their Brains - Roger Scruton Sep 11, 2009 24:38 7952
  • Persons and their Brains - Roger Scruton Sep 11, 2009 24:38 7952
  • Advances in Neuroscience - Kevin FitzGerald Sep 11, 2009 32:47 534
  • Advances in Neuroscience - Kevin FitzGerald Sep 11, 2009 32:47 534
  • Advances in Neuroscience - Kevin FitzGerald Sep 11, 2009 32:47 534
  • The Neurobiology of Virtue: Evolution, Cognition and Human Flourishing - William Casebeer Sep 11, 2009 44:17 1374
  • The Neurobiology of Virtue: Evolution, Cognition and Human Flourishing - William Casebeer Sep 11, 2009 44:17 1374
  • Common Morality: Deciding What to Do - Bernard Gert Sep 11, 2009 32:58 4808
  • Common Morality: Deciding What to Do - Bernard Gert Sep 11, 2009 32:58 4808
  • Neuroscience, Reverence and Moral Sense - James Giordano Sep 11, 2009 31:14 1774
  • Neuroscience, Reverence and Moral Sense - James Giordano Sep 11, 2009 31:14 1774
  • The Varieties of Transcendent Love - Leili Anvar Sep 11, 2009 33:46 8822
  • The Varieties of Transcendent Love - Leili Anvar Sep 11, 2009 33:46 8822
  • From Prodigy to Virtuoso: Mozart and Ostad Elahi - Farhad Mechkat Sep 11, 2009 11:20 2615
  • Infinite Echoes - Emmanuel During, Paola Munari & Robert Crinella Perform at the U.N. Sep 11, 2009 23:49 3157
  • Infinite Echoes - Emmanuel During, Paola Munari & Robert Crinella Perform at the U.N. Sep 11, 2009 23:49 3157
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