Morality and Immorality - Brain Chemistry?

Most individuals think they have a pretty good grasp of what is moral, and what is immoral.  Why do we know this?  Is our grasp of what is moral or immoral culturally learned, or is it hardwired into the brain?  And, if knowing what is moral or immoral is hardwired into the brain, how does this play into free will?

Neuroscience is looking into this, in a number of experiments, including altruistic impulses, and is coming up with some interesting data.

The results were showing that when the volunteers placed the interests of others before their own, the generosity activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights up in response to food or sex. Altruism, the experiment suggested, was not a superior moral faculty that suppresses basic selfish urges but rather was basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable.

The data suggested by the experiments raises contemplatable questions.

The research enterprise has been viewed with interest by philosophers and theologians, but already some worry that it raises troubling questions. Reducing morality and immorality to brain chemistry—rather than free will—might diminish the importance of personal responsibility. Even more important, some wonder whether the very idea of morality is somehow degraded if it turns out to be just another evolutionary tool that nature uses to help species survive and propagate.

From a Washington Post article titled If It Feels Good to Be Good, It Might Be Only Natural.

Posted by on 05/28 at 06:31 AM

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