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Home , Neuroethics

Sophomore Seminar: Emerging Topics in Neuroethics PHIL 71Q Spring ’15 -’16

Karola Kreitmair, PhD [email protected] Stanford Center for Biomedical 1215 Welch Road, Mod A, Rm 85 or Sweet Hall, Second Floor Office Hours: Thursday 1-2 and by appointment

Due to the current of (some) of our course material, I may update the syllabus throughout the quarter. Course description

What is the mind? Today, most and believe it is, in one way or an- other, just the brain. Brain research is progressing at a staggering pace. seems to be closing in on ‘thought identification’, i.e. determining an individual’s thought content merely by scanning the brain. Do we have a right to keep our thoughts private or is it permissible to use imaging , perhaps in judicial settings, to identify someone’s thoughts? What happens to our concepts of when a brain scan reveals abnormalities in the brain? Do these findings have bearing on our understanding of ? Simple drugs can prevent the forming of memories of painful events. Should we take these drugs to shield ourselves from traumatic memories or is it for us to remember unpleasant events in order to learn and grow from them? and pharmacology that enhances cognition is advancing rapidly. Is manipulating our brains into smarter, more efficient ones ethical? These are some of the questions we will consider in this course on the ethics of that will allow you to critically assess complicated, cutting edge issues.

This course is three units and has no prerequisites.

Learning Goals

Primarily, this is a course in ethics. As such, significant emphasis will be placed on the com- prehension and discussion of ethical theories, including Kant, , ethics, care ethics, and the four principles of . Once these foundations are in place, we will explore how these ethical positions bear on a number of emerging developments in neuroscience. Students will develop the ability to identify pertinent ethical problems, and the skill to interrogate these problems through the tools of reasoned argumentation. Moreover, students will learn to think deeply about the implications of neuroscientific interventions on existential issues such as the self and responsibility.

1 Assignments

To help you engage with the material we are reading, you will be asked to submit weekly reading responses. They do not need to be carefully crafted, well-thought out analyses or summaries. Rather these are short reflections on the material that demonstrate your confusions, thoughts, questions, and annoyances with the text. I will use these as jumping off points in our seminars. These responses will pertain to the next day’s reading, and are due, via email, every Monday at 8PM. (There will be some exceptions where responses will be due Wednesday at 8PM.)

In lieu of a final paper, you will, in pairs, research a particular topic from the seminar and present a philosophically and empirically informed argument to the class. These presentations will take place in Week 9 and should be about 15 minutes long each.

Failure to complete any one graded assignment will result in a failing grade for the quarter.

Reading Responses 20% Participation 50% Final Presentation 30%

Reading Materials

Rachel and Rachels The Elements of Moral Philosophy All other texts will be available on Canvas (C) or handed out in class

Schedule Week Content

Tuesday 3/29: Introduction No Reading Week 1 Thursday 3/31: Utilitarianism Utilitarianism (Chapters 1 and 2) (C) Rachels Chapter 7 - The Debate over Utilitarianism

Tuesday 4/5: No Class

Thursday 4/7: Kant & Deontology Week 2 Rachels Chapter 8 - Are There Absolute Moral Rules Rachels Chapter 9 - Kant and Respect for Persons Optional: Kant Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (Section 1) (C)

2 Week Content

Tuesday 4/12: Virtue and Care Ethics Rachels Chapter 11 - Feminism and the Rachels Chapter 12 - The Ethics of Virtue Optional: Week 3 Nichomachean Ethics (Book I: Section 1-8 and 13) (C)

Thursday 4/14: Principles of Bioethics Beauchamp and Childress Principles of Biomedical Ethics (pp. 41-58) (C) McCormick Principles of Bioethics (C)

Tuesday 4/19: Neuroimaging and Incidental Findings Illes Neuroethics in a New Era of Neuroimaging (C) Illes et al Discovery and Disclosure of Incidental Findings in Neuroimaging Research (C) Week 4 Thursday 4/21: Neuroimaging and Detection Wolpe Is My Mind Mine? Neuroethics of Neuroimaging (C) Wolpe et al Emerging for Lie Detection: Promises and Perils (C) Tovino Functional Neuroimaging and the Law – Trends for Future Scholarship (C)

Tuesday 4/26: Free Will and Moral Responsibility Libet Unconscious cerebral initiative and the role of conscious will in voluntary action (C) Roskies Neuroscientific challenges to free will and responsibility (C) Optional: Week 5 Kane Free Will (Introduction) (C)

Thursday 4/28: and Free Will Levy , Responsibility, and the Oscillation of Preference (C) Frankfurt Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person (C)

Tuesday 5/3: No Class

Thursday 5/5: Neurocognitive Enhancement Greely et al Towards Responsbile Use of Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs by the Healthy Week 6 (C) Farah et al Neurocognitive Enhancement: What Can We Do? What Should We Do? (C) Schwarz Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School (C)

3 Week Content

Tuesday 5/10: Memory Intervention Henry et al Propranalol and the Prevention of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Is it Wrong to Erase the Sting of Bad Memories? (C) Hurley The Moral Costs of Prophylactic Proporanalol (C) Kolber Neuroethics: Give Memory-Altering Drugs a Chance (C) Week 7 Thursday 5/12: Anti-Love Technology Earp et al If I Could Just Stop Loving You: Anti-Love Biotechnology and the Ethics of a Chemical Breakup (C) Epright and Waller When Love Hurts Children: Controlling the Feelings of Minors (C) Gupta Anti-Love Biotechnologies: Integrating Considerations of the Social (C)

Tuesday 5/17: Disorders of Consciousness Owen et al Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State (C) Schiff et al , Neuroethics, and the Minimally Conscious State (C) Fins Brain Injury: The Vegetative and Minimally Conscious States (C) Week 8 Thursday 5/19: Neuroessentialism and Beyond Glannon Ethical Issues with Brain-Computer Interfaces (C) Attiah and Farah Minds, motherboards, and money: futurism and realism in the neuroethics of BCI technologies (C)

Tuesday 5/24: Student Presentations Week 9 Tuesday 5/26: Student Presentations

Week 10 Tuesday 5/31: Conclusion

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