The Dissenter

#1005 Joshua May - Neuroethics: Agency in the Age of Brain Science

5 snips
Oct 11, 2024
Guest
Joshua May
Joshua May, a Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, dives into neuroethics and its implications on free will. He discusses how brain manipulation and medical interventions challenge our concepts of agency and identity. The conversation explores mental health stigma and the ethics of pharmaceutical approvals, highlighting the complexities of defining mental disorders. May also tackles neuromarketing’s impact on consumer behavior and the ethical debates surrounding moral enhancement, emphasizing a nuanced approach to neuroscience.
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INSIGHT

Neuroethics Is A Two-Way Field

  • Neuroethics combines the ethics of neuroscience with the neuroscience of ethics to ask two-way questions about brain science and morality.
  • The field covers both how to do neuroscience responsibly and what neuroscience reveals about moral judgment, free will, and agency.
INSIGHT

Unconscious Forces Complicate Free Will

  • Neuroscience reveals unconscious influences on decision-making that challenge old assumptions about free will but don't necessarily eliminate it.
  • We may need to revise our concept of free will rather than reject it outright.
INSIGHT

Responsibility Can Be Graded

  • Freedom and responsibility can come in degrees, and science may justify reducing blame in many real cases.
  • Ordinary life shows we often mitigate blame when we learn about external pressures on behaviour.
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