DOCSLIB.ORG

Is the Neuroscience of Ethics Really a New Challenge to Moral Philosophy? Sarah Songhorian(Α)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Is the Neuroscience of Ethics Really a New Challenge to Moral Philosophy? Sarah Songhorian(Α) RIVISTA INTERNAZIONALE DI FILOSOFIA E PSICOLOGIA ISSN 2039-4667; E-ISSN 2239-2629 DOI: 10.4453/rifp.2019.0001 Vol. 10 (2019), n. 1, pp. 1-15 RICERCHE The Methods of Neuroethics: Is the Neuroscience of Ethics Really a New Challenge to Moral Philosophy? Sarah Songhorian(α) Ricevuto: 23 novembre 2018; accettato: 5 marzo 2019 █ Abstract Within the otherwise lively debate on neuroethics, little attention has been devoted to the pe- culiar methodological issues and challenges it faces. My aim is to track down its methodological specifici- ties. Firstly, I will investigate to which traditional debates neuroethics bears similarity and to what extent it actually represents a novelty in ethical thinking. While the ethics of neuroscience is akin to bioethics, the neuroscience of ethics seems akin to moral psychology. And yet they differ as far as the level of expla- nation of human moral behavior and reasoning is concerned. Thus, while the neuroscience of ethics and moral psychology share a family resemblance, they cannot be reduced to one another. Secondly, I will ex- plore three different philosophical temperaments towards the role empirical findings can and should have in normative ethics and in metaethics. Prudential reasons would recommend openness to new sources of evidence without risking either reductionism nor neglect. KEYWORDS: Neuroethics; Methods; Moral Psychology; Empirical Ethics; Levels of Explanation █ Riassunto I metodi della neuroetica: la neuroscienza dell’etica è davvero una nuova sfida per la filosofia morale? – Nonostante il dibattito in ambito neuroetico sia molto vivace, poca attenzione è stata dedicata alla questione relativa al suo metodo specifico e ai problemi a cui essa va incontro. Il mio scopo è quello di identificare le specificità metodologiche di questa disciplina. Anzitutto cercherò di determinare a quali dibattiti tradizionali la neuroetica può essere avvicinata e in che misura invece questa costituisce una no- vità all’interno del pensiero etico. Mentre l’etica della neuroscienza ha delle affinità con la bioetica, la neu- roscienza dell’etica appare maggiormente simile alla psicologia morale, sebbene tali discipline siano diver- se fra loro per via del livello a cui spiegano il comportamento e il ragionamento morale degli esseri umani. Pertanto, nonostante la neuroscienza dell’etica e la psicologia morale rivelino una certa somiglianza di famiglia, non è possibile ridurre l’una all’altra. In secondo luogo esplorerò tre diversi atteggiamenti filoso- fici rispetto al ruolo che i risultati empirici giocano o dovrebbero giocare rispetto all’etica normativa e alla metaetica. Ragioni di prudenza suggeriscono di rimanere aperti verso nuove fonti di evidenza evitando tanto di ridurre l’etica a esse quanto di trascurarle del tutto. PAROLE CHIAVE: Neuroetica; Metodi; Psicologia morale; Etica empirica; Livelli di spiegazione (α)Facoltà di Filosofia, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, via Olgettina, 58 - 20132 Milano (I) E-mail: [email protected] () Creative Commons - Attribuzione - 4.0 Internazionale 2 Songhorian NEUROETHICS IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD On the one hand, there is no universally ac- in which philosophical insight interacts with da- cepted method of ethics and, thus, the contro- ta from cognitive neuroscience and other scien- versy would simply be moved one step forward tific areas. Since its origins in the early 2000s,1 while remaining substantially unsolved: for there has been growing academic interest2 in one would still have to determine which one of focusing on: the different proposed methods in ethics is the most suitable for neuroethics. On the other ethical issues raised by our increased and hand, the methods of cognitive neuroscience constantly improving understanding of and those of ethics rest on very different the brain and our ability to monitor and grounds and it is not obvious how they can in- influence it, as well as on ethical issues that form each other: the former is mostly con- emerge from our concomitant deepening cerned with how the techniques actually work, understanding of the biological bases of the latter concerns our knowledge (or lack agency and ethical decision-making.3 thereof) of what should count as good or right. Not only do these domains of inquiry not seem Despite this substantive interest in how necessarily related, but also their combination, neuroscientific data can inform our theories however performed, would require a non- of moral agency and moral decision-making, trivial passage from description to prescription there has been little attention to the peculiar that should, at least, be argued for.4 Thus, even methodological issues and challenges neuro- trying to avoid the question of the nature or ethics has to face. Assuming that the issues existence of a specific method of neuroethics, and challenges neuroethics has to deal with one would still have to investigate which are similar – or even identical – to those ad- method, among the possible methods of ethics, dressed by other empirical disciplines, the rel- is the most suitable for neuroethics, or to ask evant peculiarities of the methods of neuro- how cognitive neuroscience and ethics can re- ethics can be obscured by excessively under- late to each other while being so different. In scoring this resemblance. For this reason, I the end, then, it seems that methodological is- will focus on the methods of neuroethics as a sues akin to those one has tried to avoid by distinctive discipline. saying that we can simply combine the meth- The methodological challenges neuroeth- ods of ethics and those of cognitive neurosci- ics has to face should not be conflated with ence, come back through the window after be- those of neuroscience. It is one thing to take ing thrown out the door. into account the methodology of neuroscien- With the need for a proper consideration tific research per se – e.g., learning how neu- of the methods of neuroethics in mind, my roimaging techniques work and to what ex- aim in this paper is twofold. First, I will try tent experiments may fall below given stand- and see whether there are some specificities of ards –; it is another thing to assess and evalu- neuroethics, as far as its methodology is con- ate the methods related to, on the one hand, cerned, that make it, also from a purely meth- the ethical considerations that can – and odological perspective and not only from a should – be raised while doing cognitive neu- substantive viewpoint, a truly novel research roscience, and, on the other, the impact the field in ethics. To do so, I will consider the latter can – and should – have on ethics. Cer- definition put forth by Roskies in 2002 of two tainly, one may claim that the methods of sub-fields within neuroethics: the ethics of neuroethics are nothing more than an a poste- neuroscience and the neuroscience of ethics. I riori combination of the methods of cognitive will contend that each of them bears some neuroscience and those of ethics, whatever similarity to more traditional debates: specifi- these may be. And yet, this kind of answer cally, the ethics of neuroscience is akin to bio- begs the question in two different ways. ethics, and the neuroscience of ethics is akin The Methods of Neuroethics 3 to moral psychology. Besides this family re- ethics of neuroscience, can be conceived of as semblance, however, I will claim that the neu- analogous to bioethics. It thus raises mostly the roscience of ethics should nonetheless be con- same issues that are raised by bioethics but in sidered as distinct from moral psychology in- relation to the innovative technological possi- sofar as the explanations these two disciplines bilities afforded by cognitive neuroscience. In- provide for human behavior and human deci- formed consent and incidental findings, for in- sion-making processes are at different levels. stance, take on specific features when applied Lacking a proper distinction between these to neuroscientific research. Just to provide an levels of explanation, one could be unduly example, experiments in cognitive neurosci- prone to believe that moral psychology can be ence mostly use volunteers whose brains are reduced to the neuroscience of ethics. scanned while performing a task in order to see The investigation into the proper relation- the typical functioning of the human brain: ship between these two latter domains of in- these subjects volunteer for the sake of science quiry may lead one to wonder if there is any and the acquisition of further knowledge about prospect for a form of naturalist reductionism brain functioning. And yet, it may happen that, in the study of moral cognition. As my second while scanning a supposedly healthy subject aim, thus, I will deal with the issue of the ex- with no behavioral or clinical symptoms, the tent to which empirical findings in general researchers find some abnormality that may or can have consequences for normative ethics may not have consequences for the future or for metaethics – an issue not necessarily health of the subject. The obvious ethical issue specific to neuroethics – with reference to the is whether such information should be provid- traditional distinction between facts and val- ed to the subject or not – just as much as it ues, or “is” and “ought” in ethical reflection. happens that DNA testing shows a subject’s As a caveat, since the aim of this paper is susceptibility to some pathologies that may or to investigate primarily methodological is- may not actually develop in her lifetime. sues, I will as far as possible avoid any sub- On the other hand, (2), i.e. the neurosci- stantial assumptions which may indirectly af- ence of ethics, seems to be the subset of neu- fect methodological considerations. roethics that is “truly novel”.7 █ Ethics of neuroscience and neuroscience The neuroscience of ethics refers to the of ethics impact of neuroscientific knowledge upon our understanding of ethics itself.8 In a very influential article, Adina Roskies proposed a distinction between two main Its core interest is in the knowledge that branches within neuroethics that would be can be acquired by these new technologies as welcomed by most scholars.5 She defined (1) far as our moral abilities are concerned.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • What Is Neuroethics? Empirical and Theoretical Neuroethics Georg Northoff
    CE: Namrta; YCO/200430; Total nos of Pages: 5; YCO 200430 What is neuroethics? Empirical and theoretical neuroethics Georg Northoff Canada Research Chair for Mind, Brain and Purpose of review Neuroethics, Michael Smith Chair for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Institute of Mental Health Neuroethics is a recently emerging field that deals with predominantly empirical Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, and practical issues of ethics in neuroscience. In contrast, theoretical and Canada methodological considerations have rather been neglected and thus what may be Correspondence to Georg Northoff, Institute of Mental called theoretical neuroethics. Health Research University of Ottawa, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1Z 7K4, Canada Recent findings Tel: +1 613 722 6521; fax: +1 613 798 2982; The review focuses on informed consent and moral judgment as examples of empirical e-mail: [email protected] neuroethics and norm–fact circularity and method-based neuroethics as issues Current Opinion in Psychiatry 2009, 22:000–000 of a theoretical neuroethics. Summary It is argued that we need to consider theoretical and methodological issues in order to develop neuroethics as a distinct discipline, which as such can be distinguished from both philosophy/ethics and neuroscience. Keywords informed consent, method-based neuroethics, moral judgment, norm–fact circularity Curr Opin Psychiatry 22:000–000 ß 2009 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 0951-7367 about moral judgment. What is a moral judgment and Introduction how does it affect our ethical decisions in the current Therecentprogressinneurosciencehasledtoethical neuroscience? The question about the nature of moral questions concerning the emergence of a novel field, judgment has triggered many neuroscientific investi- neuroethics.
    [Show full text]
  • Neuroethics: an Overview
    1 Neuroethics: An Overview Chemists can tell us how molecules interact and change according to general principles rooted in physics. No surprise there—the relation be- tween chemistry and physics is a textbook example of intertheoretic re- duction in the philosophy of science. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, biologists began to explain the functions of cells in terms of the molecules that make them up. This has been worked out in detail for many cellular functions and in gist for the rest. Even those special cells called neurons, with their special tricks of signaling and changing con- nections to one another, are being explained in terms of more fundamen- tal physical and chemical processes. While cellular neuroscientists are steadily filling in our understanding of what neurons do and the molecular machinery by which they do it, systems neuroscientists armed with computational models are showing us how groups of these cells in combinations can do even more tricks. The behavior of large ensembles of neurons can, in turn, be studied by neuroscientists and psychologists by putting people in scanners, stimulat- ing specific brain areas, or observing the effects of brain lesions. Percep- tion, memory, decision making, and many other mental functions have been associated with the activity of specific sets of localized populations of neurons. At this relatively molar level of description, the brain’s oper- ations can be linked upwards to psychology as well as downwards to biology. It is here, at this juncture between psychology and the natural sciences, that neuroethics comes in. In principle, and increasingly in practice, we can understand the human mind as part of the material world.
    [Show full text]
  • Emerging Ethical Issues in Neuroscience. Nature
    commentary Emerging ethical issues in neuroscience Martha J. Farah There is growing public awareness of the ethical issues raised by progress in many areas of neuroscience. This commentary reviews the issues, which are triaged in terms of their novelty and their imminence, with an exploration of the relevant ethical principles in each case. In less than a year, “neuroethics” has ical issues raised are similarly varied, and the possibility of safe mood enhancement. joined the vocabulary of most neurosci- include the rights to equal opportunity, The growth in sales of SSRIs clearly indi- entists. Exactly what the word signifies privacy and freedom. cates that more people, with less severe may not be clear to most of us, however. depression, are using them. Has the Both the word and the field to which it Enhancement of normal function threshold for SSRI use dropped below the refers come largely from individuals out- If drugs and other forms of central ner- line separating the healthy from the sick? side neuroscience. Newspaper columnist vous system intervention can be used to This question is hard to answer for sever- William Safire gave the field its name, and improve the mood, cognition or behavior al reasons. First, the line between healthy http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience defining statements of the issues are found of people with problems in these areas, and sick is a fuzzy and perhaps arbitrary in such sources as Brain Policy1 by bioethi- what might they do for normal individu- one. There is no simple discontinuity cist Robert Blank, Our Posthuman Future2 als? Some treatments can be viewed as between the characteristic mood of by historian Francis Fukuyama and a ‘normalizers’, which have little or no effect patients with diagnosable mood disorders cover story in The Economist magazine on systems that are already normal (for and the range of moods found in the gen- (May 23, 2002).
    [Show full text]
  • Program for Neuroethics & Clinical Consciousness
    John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics MedStar Washington Hospital Center Program for Neuroethics & Clinical Consciousness The John J. Lynch, MD Center for Ethics at MedStar Washington Hospital Center introduces a research program devoted to the intersections of philosophy, neuroscience, empirical psychology, and clinical neurology. The Program for Neuroethics and Clinical Consciousness (PNCC) serves as a special research unit of the Lynch Center, contributing to relevant policy and practice, such as institutional criteria for brain death, improved evaluations of decision-making capacity in disorders of consciousness, and specialized analyses of clinical cases involving neurointensive care. In addition, the PNCC invites scholars of relevant disciplinary backgrounds and at various degrees of study, to collaborate in investigating the ontological and normative clinical implications of ongoing advances within these fields. Examples of questions and subjects involving PNCC research: • How cognitive scientific (computational-representational) views of consciousness and empirical psychology can contribute to our understanding of morality and ethical decision-making • The determination of death via clinical criteria for total brain failure and the conceptual/physiological distinction between higher- and lower-level neurologic function • The use of fMRI and EEG technologies in the clinical confirmation and subsequent treatment of disorders of consciousness • Improving the timely diagnosis, capacity assessment, and quality of life of patients experiencing
    [Show full text]
  • Announcements | Annonces Annonces
    Prepared by the Neuroethics research unit at the IRCM Préparé par l’unité de recherche en neuroéthique Literature Update - April 15th 2016/15 avril 2016 de l’IRCM B r a i n s t o r m Vol. 9 No. 7 Inside this i s s u e : Announcements 1 Announcements | Annonces Annonces Competition – Visiting Scholar in Neuroethics 2016-2017 Neuroethics 2 literature Neuroethics Research Unit – Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal, IRCM Littérature en neuroéthique This program aims to provide early-career and established researchers from any disciplinary background with the opportunity to engage in neuroethics research within a dynamic environ- Resources 4 ment. Applicants will submit proposals for a research project to be completed during a one- to Ressources two-month stay with the Neuroethics Research Unit of the IRCM in Montréal, Canada. Competition Details We are seeking applications from both national and international scholars (advanced graduate students or those with a professional or doctoral degree) who have a strong interest in under- taking research in neuroethics. While no formal neuroethics experience is required, applicants must propose a research project that can make an original contribution to the field. All visiting scholars must be able to work on their research with minimal supervision and priority will be given to candidates who demonstrate an interest in building a collaborative project with mem- bers of the Neuroethics Research Unit. Visiting scholars will have their return travel to Montreal covered (up to $1500 CAD) and will receive a taxable stipend of $750-1500 CAD. Scholars are asked to propose an appropriate E d i t o r i a l length of stay (1 to 2 months).
    [Show full text]
  • Neuroethics for Fantasyland Or for the Clinic? the Limitations of Speculative Ethics
    Article Neuroethics for Fantasyland or for the Clinic? The Limitations of Speculative Ethics . SVEN OVE HANSSON Abstract: What purpose can be served by empirically unsubstantiated speculation in ethics? In answering that question, we need to distinguish between the major branches of ethics. In foundational moral philosophy, the use of speculative examples is warranted to the extent that ethical principles and theories are assumed to be applicable even under the extreme circum- stances referred to in these examples. Such an assumption is in need of justification, and it cannot just be taken for granted. In applied ethics, the use of unrealistic scenarios is more difficult to justify. It can be positively harmful if it diverts our attention from more urgent issues. Neuroethics is one of the areas of applied ethics where speculative scenarios have taken up https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms much of the attention that could instead have been devoted to problems that are relevant for the treatment and care of patients. Speculative ethics has often been defended with mere possibility arguments that may at first hand seem difficult to refute. It is shown with examples how such claims can be defeated with a combination of science and argumentation analysis. Keywords: neuroethics; applied ethics; speculation; mere possibility arguments; specula- tive examples; unrealistic scenarios Introduction Philosophy, perhaps in particular moral philosophy, differs from other academic disciplines in its profuse and unabashed use of examples that are empirically
    [Show full text]
  • Neuroethics in Educational Technology: Keeping the Brain in Mind When Developing Frameworks for Ethical Decision-Making
    Chapter 11 Neuroethics in Educational Technology: Keeping the Brain in Mind When Developing Frameworks for Ethical Decision-Making Thomas D. Parsons “It just doesn’t matter whether the data are stored somewhere inside the biological organism or stored in the external world. What matters is how information is poised for retrieval and for immediate use as and when required.” Clark (2003), p. 69 Abstract Cyberlearning involves the convergence of psychology, education, learning technologies, computer science, engineering, and information science. Given the similar rate of advances in the educational neuroscience over the past couple decades, there is a growing interest in interaction between neuroscience and education. While cyberlearn- ing has called attention to the stimulating potential that these new technologies (and the research behind them) have to offer, less emphasis has been placed upon the moral and ethical issues that may result from the widespread use of the learning technologies and neuroscience. This chapter aims to offer a first attempt at discussing some of the ethical issues inherent in brain-based cyberlearning research and practice. Introduction Cyberlearning is a recent branch of educational psychology that has increased in importance as new technologies have been developed and proliferate our class- rooms (Montfort & Brown, 2013). The National Science Foundation has developed T. D. Parsons (*) College of Information, University of North Texas, Computational Neuropsychology and Simulation, Denton, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected]; https://cns.unt.edu/ © Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2019 195 T. D. Parsons et al. (eds.), Mind, Brain and Technology, Educational Communications and Technology: Issues and Innovations, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02631-8_11 196 T.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Neuroethics?
    The BRAIN Initiative promises to revolutionize our understanding of how the brain works, and foster development of tools that can precisely intervene on brain function. This research may deliver great insight and treatments to help affected patients and families. As part of this work, research teams might interview deep brain stimulation research participants about atypical side effects, such as personality changes, and how they perceive these as compared to their original symptoms. Or, researchers might explore disease- and/or treatment-induced fluctuating consent capacity and whether it suggests a need for changes in informed consent for brain stimulation studies. These are examples of how neuroethics can contribute to neuroscience research. What is neuroethics? A tool for the advancement of neuroscience Familiar topics in bioethics such as privacy, fairness, and autonomy can take on new dimensions and complexities given the unprecedented abilities of new neurotechnologies, and the brain’s centrality to fundamental aspects of our selves1. As such, neuroscience research raises ethical questions beyond typical research ethics or the ethics of emerging technologies. Such questions may include: • How might new neurotechnologies disrupt fundamental notions of free will and agency? What broader implications could this entail for legal policies or commercial realms? • What are the post-trial responsibilities of researchers (and funders) to participants who benefit from experimental implanted neural devices? • If collecting and sharing neural
    [Show full text]
  • From Responsible Research and Innovation to Responsibility by Design
    Journal of Responsible Innovation ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tjri20 From Responsible Research and Innovation to responsibility by design Bernd Carsten Stahl, Simisola Akintoye, Lise Bitsch, Berit Bringedal, Damian Eke, Michele Farisco, Karin Grasenick, Manuel Guerrero, William Knight, Tonii Leach, Sven Nyholm, George Ogoh, Achim Rosemann, Arleen Salles, Julia Trattnig & Inga Ulnicane To cite this article: Bernd Carsten Stahl, Simisola Akintoye, Lise Bitsch, Berit Bringedal, Damian Eke, Michele Farisco, Karin Grasenick, Manuel Guerrero, William Knight, Tonii Leach, Sven Nyholm, George Ogoh, Achim Rosemann, Arleen Salles, Julia Trattnig & Inga Ulnicane (2021): From Responsible Research and Innovation to responsibility by design, Journal of Responsible Innovation, DOI: 10.1080/23299460.2021.1955613 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2021.1955613 © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 25 Aug 2021. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tjri20 JOURNAL OF RESPONSIBLE INNOVATION https://doi.org/10.1080/23299460.2021.1955613 RESEARCH ARTICLE From Responsible Research and Innovation to responsibility by design Bernd Carsten Stahl a, Simisola Akintoye a, Lise Bitsch b, Berit Bringedal c, Damian Eke a, Michele Farisco d,e, Karin Grasenick f, Manuel Guerrero
    [Show full text]
  • Free Will: Real Or Illusion a Debate with Contributions by Christian List
    Free Will: Real or Illusion A Debate With contributions by Christian List, Gregg Caruso, and Cory Clark This is a preprint of an exchange published in The Philosopher, Vol. 108, No. 1 The published version can be found at: thephilosopher1923.org/product-page/winter-2020-the-other-animals © C. List, G. Caruso, and C. Clark Free Will: Real or Illusion? Christian List If you are a regular reader of popular science writings, the chances are that you have come across articles or books arguing that free will is an illusion. Writers such as Sam Harris, Michael Gazzaniga, and Jerry Coyne, among others, have influentially claimed that the notion of free will – a person’s capacity to choose and control his or her own actions – is refuted by modern science. They argue that human actions are caused not by people’s conscious mental states, but by physical processes in their brains and bodies and the world at large, processes over which people have no control. If this is right, the idea of free will is a remnant of a superseded, unscientific worldview. Although such free-will skepticism is not yet the established view in society, nor dominant in academic philosophy, it is gaining prominence, and if it became accepted as the truth, it would raise significant questions about the picture of humans as choice-making agents, and it would cast into doubt society’s practices of assigning responsibility to people for their actions. It seems problematic to hold a person responsible for something he or she did not freely do. Some skeptics are untroubled by these implications or even find them congenial.
    [Show full text]
  • VIEW Open Access Neuroethics: the Pursuit of Transforming Medical Ethics in Scientific Ethics Gustavo Figueroa*
    Figueroa Biol Res (2016) 49:11 DOI 10.1186/s40659-016-0070-y Biological Research REVIEW Open Access Neuroethics: the pursuit of transforming medical ethics in scientific ethics Gustavo Figueroa* Abstract Ethical problems resulting from brain research have given rise to a new discipline termed neuroethics, representing a new kind of knowledge capable of discovering the neural basis for universal ethics. The article (1) tries to evaluate the contributions of neuroethics to medical ethics and its suitability to outline the foundations of universal ethics, (2) critically analyses the process of founding this universal ethic. The potential benefits of applying neuroimaging, psy- chopharmacology and neurotechnology have to be carefully weighed against their potential harm. In view of these questions, an intensive dialogue between neuroscience and the humanities is more necessary than ever. Keywords: Neuroethics, Free will, Mind-body problem, Neuroscience Background Origin of neuroethics Toulmin provocatively postulated that medicine saved Medicine emerged in Greece as a profession, that is, a Western ethics from its implicit, although increasingly professio, which has a religious origin: to profess is an act decadence product of academic discussions with little that demands delivering, an activity that demands com- concrete value for the lives of human beings, when creat- mitting one’s self entirely and for life. It is a kind of con- ing bioethics based on the urgency of physicians at the secration and those who exercise it are consecrates [7, 8]. bedsides of their patients [1]. Despite his astute reflec- From this the Hippocratic “Oath” was born at the dawn- tion, he did not consider two aspects.
    [Show full text]
  • Neuroethics: the Institutionalization of Ethics in Neuroscience Amer Cavalheiro Hamdan
    Neuroethics: the institutionalization of ethics in neuroscience Amer Cavalheiro Hamdan Abstract Recent advances in neuroscience have led to numerous ethical questions. Neuroethics is the study of ethical, legal and social advancements in neuroscience which, despite being a recently developed discipline, has a long historical tradition. The concern with ethical issues in neuroscience is extremely old and dates back to the philosophical and scientific traditions that originally sought to understand the relationship between the brain and behavior. More recently, the field of neuroethics has emerged in the context of public and academic debate over the consequences of the advances arising from neuroscience. In the current context, technological innovations, which have arisen from the expansion of neuroscience research, have raised new ethical dilemmas. This article aims to analyze the historical course of ethics within the field of neuroscience, specifically the appearance and the recent institutionalization of neuroethics. Atualização Keywords: Neuroscience. Ethical analysis. Bioethical issues. Biomedical technology. Resumo Neuroética: a institucionalização da ética na neurociência Os recentes avanços na neurociência suscitam inúmeras questões éticas. Neuroética é o estudo dos avanços éticos, legais e sociais em neurociência. Apesar de ser uma disciplina desenvolvida recentemente, a neuroética tem uma longa tradição histórica. A preocupação com questões éticas na neurociência é antiga e remonta às tradições filosóficas e científicas que originalmente tinham procurado compreender a relação entre cérebro e comportamento. Mais recentemente, o campo da neuroética surgiu no contexto do debate público e acadê- mico sobre os efeitos dos avanços decorrentes da neurociência. No contexto atual, as inovações tecnológicas, que surgiram do crescimento da pesquisa em neurociência, levantaram novos dilemas éticos.
    [Show full text]