MORAL PSYCHOLOGY

Catalog description

The growing interdisciplinary field of moral psychology studies our moral beliefs and decision-making processes using the tools of anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience. Topics in the science of morality will include the moral-conventional distinction (the distinction between moral norms and non-moral norms such as etiquette), the role of reasons vs. emotions in moral judgment, the brain basis of moral decision-making, cultural differences in moral norms, psychopathy, and the development of morality in children. Psychology studies the nature of moral judgment using behavioral tasks. Neuroscience employs techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and other tools for monitoring and manipulating brain processes to study "where" in the brain moral decision making occurs and the nature of these decisions. Throughout the course, we will examine how these empirical findings intersect with the ethical choices that we ought to make. (Cross-listed with PHIL 4260 ).