What We Are Reading Today: Conscience by Patricia S. Churchland
Author Patricia S. Churchland is a founding figure in the field of neurophilosophy, which, as the name suggests, combines scientific study of the brain with the academic discipline of philosophy.
“The brain developed in such a way as to enable certain moral inclinations and actions, and so, in Churchland’s view, neuroscience is key to understanding conscience,” said critic Olivia Goldhill in a review published in The New York Times.
“Not only that, Churchland argues that the instincts derived from these biological faculties are a stronger foundation for moral theory than traditional philosophy. To make her case she devotes three quarters of her book to scientific findings connecting brain functions to moral behavior,” said Goldhill.
Conscience “delves into scientific studies, particularly the fascinating work on twins, to deepen our understanding of whether people have a predisposition to embrace specific ethical stands,” said a review in goodreads.com.
Churchland is a Canadian-American philosopher working at the University of California, San Diego since 1984.
