Ethics

Farah and Murphy on "Neuroscience and the Soul"

By Adam Kolber

Martha Farah and Nancey Murphy have a brief new commentary in Science, entitled "Neuroscience and the Soul."  I don't think a free copy is available, so here are some excerpts:

[A]s neuroscience begins to reveal the mechanisms underlying personality, love, morality, and spirituality, the idea of a ghost in the machine becomes strained. Brain imaging indicates that all of these traits have physical correlates in brain function. Furthermore, pharmacologic influences on these traits, as well as the effects of localized stimulation or damage, demonstrate that the brain processes in question are not mere correlates, but are the physical bases of these central aspects of our personhood. If these aspects of the person are all features of the machine, why have a ghost at all?

. . .

[S]cience often requires us to reject otherwise plausible beliefs in the face of evidence to the contrary. A full understanding of why the earth orbits the sun (as a consequence of the way the solar system was formed) took another century after Galileo?s time to develop. It may take even longer to understand why certain material systems give rise to consciousness. In the meantime, just as Galileo's view of the earth in the heavens did not render our world any less precious or beautiful, neither does the physicalism of neuroscience detract from the value or meaning of human life.

Full post as published by Neuroethics and Law on February 26, 2009 (boomark / email).