Neuroscience of morality
Bachelor's degree
In Maynard (USA)
Description
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Type
Bachelor's degree
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Location
Maynard (USA)
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Start date
Different dates available
How do we decide whether an action is morally wrong? How do we choose to do what is right? When and why do we punish wrong-doers? Moral behavior and moral evaluation are functions of the human brain. It is just becoming possible to use neuroscientific methods to understand how they work. This course will consider the mechanisms of morality as a question for neuroscientists.
Facilities
Location
Start date
Start date
Reviews
Subjects
- Neuroscience
- Moral
Course programme
2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
9.00 Introduction to Psychology, 9.01 Introduction to Neuroscience; 9.10 Cognitive Neuroscience, 9.20 Animal Behavior, or 9.85 Infant and Early Childhood Cognition; Preference to juniors and seniors, and BCS majors.
The aim of this course is to give students skills and practice making and evaluating arguments from scientific evidence about morality and the brain.
There will be almost no lecturing. In class time is used for an in-depth discussion of topics in the readings. Students will prepare the contributions to these discussions, guided by the weekly exercises and based on the assigned readings.
Each student will work on one final essay over the whole semester, progressively developing a sophisticated, well-written argument based on scientific data.
The final exam will test skills developed in the course to think about these hard probilems creatively, rigorously and synthetically, and develop a verbal argument in real time.
I value mutual respect and trust between teachers and students. I enjoy working hard to teach students who are working hard to learn. I promise to do my best to make the classes engaging, and to adapt to your feedback. I expect you to arrive on time, so you don't disrupt the class, and to devote genuine intellectual energy to the material.
All written work must be 100% your own original writing. Copying sentences or ideas from other students or from any other source is plagiarism. Plagiarism is unfair (to the other students) and disrespectful (to the intellectual challenge of the course), and I take it seriously
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Neuroscience of morality