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The Fragmentation of Moral Psychology: Reason, Emotion, Motivation and Moral Judgment in Ethics and Science Christopher Zarpentine

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The Fragmentation of Moral Psychology: Reason, Emotion, Motivation and Moral Judgment in Ethics and Science Christopher Zarpentine Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 The Fragmentation of Moral Psychology: Reason, Emotion, Motivation and Moral Judgment in Ethics and Science Christopher Zarpentine Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE FRAGMENTATION OF MORAL PSYCHOLOGY: REASON, EMOTION, MOTIVATION AND MORAL JUDGMENT IN ETHICS AND SCIENCE BY CHRISTOPHER ZARPENTINE A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring 2011 The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Christopher Zarpentine defended on March 29, 2011. ______________________________ Alfred R. Mele Professor Directing Dissertation ______________________________ John Kelsay University Representative ______________________________ David McNaughton Committee Member ______________________________ Michael Ruse Committee Member Approved: ______________________________ J. Piers Rawling, Chair, Department of Philosophy The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii Writing this dissertation made me realize how much I have learned from my parents. I dedicate this work to them. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It would be true to say that this project started my very first semester of graduate school. Back in 2004, Eddy Nahmias and Zach Ernst taught the fMRI papers by Josh Greene and colleagues. I’m grateful to them for setting me on this path. But a project like this doesn’t get completed without a lot of help along the way. I should first thank my committee members: John Kelsay and David McNaughton—both of whom were pinch-hitters, stepping in to replace Frank Marlowe and Josh Gert, whose own career paths led a different way—and my advisor and committee chair, Al Mele, who has been absolutely irreplaceable. My colleagues in the Department of Philosophy have been terrific and provided support in numberous ways. Thanks to Steve McFarlane, Josh Shepherd and Aron Vadican for helpful discussion. Steve and Aron both offered generous comments on parts of this dissertation and Steve has provided very helpful discussion on a number of issues. Ali Brown has taught me how good beer tastes after a hard day of writing; I’m grateful for her support and friendship. I must also thank Clifford Sosis, whose friendship and conversation have been with me my entire philosophical career. Heather Cipolletti has been my friend and collegue throughout this process and I am grateful to her. Michael and Lizzie Ruse have provided invaluable moral and dietary support throughout the process, as has the rest of the Sunday crew. My parents never wavered in their support, even when they wondered what was taking so long. Finally, Samantha Muka deserves a medal for her love and support over the last 5 years. I could not have done it without her. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................viii 1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The new synthesis in moral psychology.......................................................... 1 1.2 Some distinctions........................................................................................... 3 1.3 Moral judgment ............................................................................................. 4 1.4 Preview.......................................................................................................... 6 2. TOWARD AN INTEGRATED THEORY OF MORALITY AND MORAL JUDGMENT................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 What is morality?......................................................................................... 10 2.1.1 Philosophical accounts .................................................................. 11 2.1.2 Psychological accounts and the moral/conventional distinction...... 15 2.1.3 Cultural psychology and functional accounts of morality............... 17 2.2 A three-level functionalist account of morality............................................. 21 2.2.1 The function of moral concepts ..................................................... 22 2.2.2 The content and reference of moral concepts ................................. 25 2.2.3 Two worries .................................................................................. 30 2.2.4 Conclusion .................................................................................... 32 3. DUAL PROCESS THEORY AND BEYOND .......................................................... 34 3.1 Humean and Kantian moral psychologies..................................................... 35 3.2 Dual process theory ..................................................................................... 36 3.3 A cockroach in a glass of apple juice ........................................................... 41 3.3.1 The cognitive-development and social interactionist approaches.... 42 3.3.2 The social intuitionist model.......................................................... 44 3.3.3 Problems for the social intuitionist................................................. 51 3.4 Trolleys, Ecologists and Terrorists............................................................... 53 3.4.1 Greene’s dual process model ......................................................... 56 4. CHALLENGING THE BASIC DUAL PROCESS MODEL ..................................... 63 4.1 Complicating the model: moral rules?.......................................................... 63 4.1.1 Causal representations ................................................................... 66 4.1.2 Beyond the basic dual process model............................................. 70 4.2 Linguisticism............................................................................................... 71 5. ‘KNOWING THE WORDS BUT NOT THE MUSIC’: PSYCHOPATHY AND THE ROLE OF EMOTION IN MORAL JUDGMENT ......................................................... 77 5.1 What is a psychopath? ................................................................................. 77 5.2 Moral reasoning in psychopaths................................................................... 82 v 5.3 Moral judgment in psychopathy................................................................... 83 5.4 Emotional learning....................................................................................... 85 5.4.1 Amygdala dysfunction................................................................... 86 5.4.2 Response reversal and vmPFC dysfunction.................................... 88 5.4.3 Psychopathy and the developmental hypothesis............................. 90 5.5 Compensation.............................................................................................. 95 6. GAGE WAS “NO LONGER GAGE:” VMPFC DAMAGE AND THE ROLE OF EMOTION IN MORAL JUDGMENT ........................................................................ 100 6.1 vmPFC damage: the clinical profile ........................................................... 101 6.2 vmPFC function: representing value .......................................................... 104 6.2.1 OFC-amygdala connections......................................................... 108 6.2.2 Self control: DLPFC modulation ................................................. 115 6.2.3 Dissociations ............................................................................... 118 6.3 Moral judgment in vmPFC patients............................................................ 122 6.4 Early onset vmPFC damage ....................................................................... 126 6.5 Psychopathology and emotion in moral judgment: conclusions .................. 127 7. CAUSAL COGNITION.......................................................................................... 130 7.1 What is causal cognition?........................................................................... 132 7.1.1 Concepts and causal cognition..................................................... 137 7.1.2 Sketching the two-systems account.............................................. 140 7.1.3 Evidence from learning and memory research ............................. 142 7.2 A two-system account of causal cognition.................................................. 144 7.2.1 Causal cognition: a variety of views ............................................ 144 7.2.2 Animal learning and causal cognition.......................................... 146 7.2.3 Cognitivist accounts of causal cognition...................................... 150 7.2.4 Cues to causal structure ............................................................... 155 7.2.5 The two-system explanation ........................................................ 157 7.2.6 Awareness................................................................................... 159 7.3 Conclusion................................................................................................. 165 8. CAUSAL COGNITION IN MORAL JUDGMENT ................................................ 166 8.1 Against linguisticism ................................................................................. 166 8.1.1 A preliminary consideration against
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