The Moral Brain
Patricia Churchland
About the Course
For as long as we have been able to think, we have grappled with the following questions: what is morality, and where does it come from? Is it possible that an experience so mystical could have physical origins? And could it even arise from evolution and natural selection?
In this course, Neurophilosopher and Professor Emerita at the University of California, San Diego, Patricia Churchland, introduces her theory of the physical origins of morality and conscience. Professor Churchland discusses how the evolution of warm-blooded animals led to a hormonally close bond between parent and offspring in a way that had never been seen in the animal kingdom before. It is this phenomenon, she argues, that resulted in the morality we observe today, both in humans and in other animals. Ultimately, Churchland’s hypothesis is that morality isn’t quite as mystical as we once thought.
By the end of the course, you will have learned:
- Darwin's view on morality and conscience
- Evolution and the importance of being warm-blooded on the development of morality
- The role that oxytocin plays in developing morality
- How the body and brain are chemically integrated
- Cooperation instances between warm-blooded animals in the wild
- How our experience shapes sociality into specific habits and preferences using the reward system
- How expectations affect the satisfaction of an outcome
As part of the course there are in-video quiz questions to consolidate your learning, and discussion boards to have your say.
IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.
About the Instructor
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Patricia Churchland
Patricia Churchland is a Canadian-American analytical philosopher noted for her contributions to neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind. She is UC President's Professor of Philosophy Emerita at the University of California, San Diego, where she has taught since 1984. Her work is allied to a view of philosophy as a kind of 'proto-science', which asks challenging but largely empirical questions, and her approach to philosophy is practical, applied and integrated with science. Patricia Churchland is associated with a school of thought called eliminative materialism - she believes philosophers are increasingly realising that to understand the mind one must understand the brain. She applies findings from neuroscience to address traditional philosophical questions about knowledge, free will, consciousness and ethics.
Course Syllabus
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Part One: Moral MonkeysWhere does morality come from? Churchland traces the evolutionary emergence of caring and cooperation.
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Part Two: The Cultural ConscienceHow does culture shape morality? Churchland reconciles cultural diversity with shared biology.