Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality (Princeton Science Library)

Author: Patricia S. ChurchlandPublisher: Princeton University PressPaperback:ISBN 10: 0691180970ISBN 13: 978-0691180977Hardcover:ISBN 10: 069113703XISBN 13: 978-0691137032What 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