Course program
The course will deal with neuroethics in a global framework, with reference to the international development of the discipline and to the problems concerning neuroethical debates cross-culturally.
Neuroethics is a field of interaction between neuroscience and bioethics where moral views are informed by theories and findings coming from multilevel cognitive neurosciences. During the course, the student will be asked to examine a number of relevant neuroethical issues on how the brain processes morality, which may raise questions and challenges on the problem nature/culture and morality.
The program will be developed during classes.
Sections of the course (provisional):
- Neuroethics: definition, origin and international development
- The emotional construction of morality
- Moral cognition and moral tribes
- Psychopathy
- Neurocognitive Enhancement
- Moral Enhancement
- Neuroscience and courtrooms
Prerequisites
Preferable but not necessary basics of logic and philosophy of science, moral philosophy.
Books
Required texts:
- Instructor's slides.
- List of readings (above).
Readings (articles/book chapters in English) will be provided during class, before or at the end of each lesson.
Slides/Readings will be uploaded in pdf format on the Sapienza e-learning website (Moodle) after class.
Teaching mode
The course is both lecture- and discussion-oriented. There will be short assignments and class activities. Guest speakers will be invited to deliver seminars on specific topics.
Frequency
Attendance is not mandatory in this Program.
Exam mode
The final exam will consist of 2 parts:
- written test;
- mandatory activity during the class (for attendees).
Non-attendees: additional readings will be required.
Grading is out of thirty and will be averaged between MH-Part I and MH-Part II.
Bibliography
An updated list of readings, also for class activities, will be given during classes.
General references (provisional)
From the year 2024-5, chapters from the following recently published text will be introduced:
Farisco M. eds. (2024), Neuroethics and Cultura Diversity, Wiley-ISTE
Lecture 1/2: Neuroethics: naturalism in a global context
- Illes J., Bird S.J. (2006). Neuroethics: a modern context for ethics in neuroscience, Trends in Neurosciences, 29(9): 511-17.
- Roskies A. (2002) Neuroethics for the New Millenium, Neuron, Vol. 35, 21–23
- Racine E., Which naturalism for bioethics? a defense of moderate (pragmatic) naturalism, Bioethics 2008, 22(2): 92–100
Mandatory for non-attendees:
Ch 1: English transl. of Corbellini G., Sirgiovanni E. (2013). Tutta colpa del cervello: un’introduzione alla neuroetica. Milano:Mondadori.
Lecture 3-4: Emotions, moral cognition and moral tribes
- Greene JD (2015),The rise of moral cognition, Cognition 135 pp. 39-42
- Prinz J (2013), Constructive Sentimentalism: Legal And Political Implications, Nomos, Vol. 53, Passions and Emotions pp. 3-18
- Greene J (2016), Beyond shooting morality, In Liao S.M. Moral Brains OUP
Mandatory for non-attendees: Ch 5 The neuroevolutionary roots of morality : Corbellini G., Sirgiovanni E. (2013). Tutta colpa del cervello: un’introduzione allaneuroetica. Milano: Mondadori
Prinz J: CH 2 (Emotions: Non-Moral and moral) +CH 5 (Dining with Cannibals): in 2007 The Emotional Construction of Morals, OUP
Lecture 5-6: Neuroenhancement, moral enhancement and psychopathy
On moral enhancement:
- (in favor) Savulescu, Julian and Persson, Ingmar (2012) Moral Enhancement, Freedom and the god machine, The Monist, 95: 3,399–421.
- (against) Harris J. (2011) Moral Enhancement and freedom, Bioethics
Mandatory for non-attendees:
Corbellini G., Sirgiovanni E., Against paternalistic views on neuroenhancement: an evolutionary libertarian approach, Medicina neisecoli – Journal of History of Medicine, 27/3, 2015 (ISSN 0394-9001)For the different arguments in favor/against please see Section2 (The ethics of enhancement) from this entry on SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neuroethics/#EthiEnha
Lecture 7: Neuroscience, free will and the courtrooms
Levy N. (2015) Neuroscience, Free Will, and Responsibility: The Current State of Play in Clausen J., Levy N. Handbook of Neuroethics, Springer.
Greene J. and Cohen J. (2004) For the law, neuroscience changes nothing and everything, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 359, 1775–1785 (discussion in class)
For non-attendees:
Sirgiovanni E., Corbellini G., Caporale C., A recap on Italian Neurolaw: epistemological and ethical issues, Mind & Society, 16(1-2), 2017, pp. 17–35
Lesson mode
The course is both lecture- and discussion-oriented. There will be short assignments and class activities. Guest speakers will be invited to deliver seminars on specific topics.
