| | My brain made me do it |
| | Understanding how morality is linked to brain function will require us to rethink our |
| | justice system, says Martha J. Farah |
| | |
| 1 | | AS SCIENCE exposes the gears and sprockets of moral cognition, how will it |
| | affect our laws and ethical norms? |
| 2 | | We have long known that moral character is related to brain function. One |
| | remarkable demonstration of this was provided by Phineas Gage, a 19th-century |
| | construction foreman injured in an explosion. After a large iron rod was blown through |
| | his head, destroying bits of his prefrontal cortex, Gage was transformed from a |
| | conscientious, dependable worker to a selfish and erratic character, described by |
| | some as antisocial. |
| 3 | | Recent research has shown that psychopaths, who behave antisocially and |
| | without remorse, differ from the rest of us in several brain regions associated with |
| | self-control and moral cognition (Behavioral Sciences and the Law, vol 26, p7). Even |
| | psychologically normal people who merely score higher in psychopathic traits show |
| | distinctive differences in their patterns of brain activation when contemplating moral |
| | decisions (Molecular Psychiatry, vol 14, p 5). |
| 4 | | The idea that moral behaviour is dependent on brain function presents a |
| | challenge to our usual ways of thinking about moral responsibility. A remorseless |
| | murderer is unlikely to win much sympathy, but show us that his cold-blooded cruelty |
| | is a neuropsychological impairment and we are apt to hold him less responsible for |
| | his actions. Presumably for this reason, fMRI evidence was introduced by the defence |
| | in a recent murder trial to show that the perpetrator had differences in various brain |
| | regions which they argued [id:95240] . Indeed, neuroscientific evidence has been found to |
| | exert a powerful influence over decisions by judges and juries to find defendants "not |
| | guilty by reason of insanity" (Behavioral Sciences and the Law, vol 26, p 85). |
| 5 | | Outside the courtroom people tend to judge the behaviour of others less harshly |
| | when it is explained in light of physiological, rather than psychological processes |
| | (Ethics and Behavior, vol 15, p 139). This is as true for serious moral transgressions, |
| | like killing, as for behaviours that are merely socially undesirable, like overeating. The |
| | decreased moral stigma surrounding drug addiction is undoubtedly due in part to our |
| | emerging view of addiction as a brain disease. |
| 6 | | So will the field of moral neuroscience change our laws, ethics and mores? The |
| | growing use of brain scans in courtrooms, societal precedents like the |
| | destigmatisation of addiction, and studies like those described above seem to say the |
| | answer is yes. And this makes sense. For laws and mores to persist, they must |
| | accord with our understanding of behaviour. For example, we know that young |
| | children have limited moral understanding and self-control, so we do not hold them |
| | criminally accountable for their behaviour. To the extent that neuroscience changes |
| | our understanding of human behaviour - and misbehaviour - it seems destined to |
| | alter society's standards of morality. |
| | |
| | New Scientist, 2010 |
