With this issue Neuroethics, the journal, enters its second year. Neuroethics, the field, is not much older. When the journal was launched, many people (I won’t name names) predicted that it would fail; the field was too young, the issues too insignificant or too well-known, the number of scholars at work on them too few. Of course it is too early to declare the naysayers wrong, but the signs are good, both for the journal and for the field.

Of particular interest are the developments in Europe. The strength of neuroethics in North America—especially at the University of Pennsylvania and at several different universities in Canada—is well known. Prior to 2008, the strength of neuroethics on the continent was unknown, at least to me. I am pleased to report significant concentrations of neuroethics research, of the highest quality, in Germany and in the Netherlands. Expect to see articles stemming from both research groups in these pages in the near future, including a special issue on cognitive enhancement based around work of the Dutch researchers. There is also significant neuroethics activity in the Scandinavian countries, which is also beginning to bear significant fruit. The United Kingdom was slower to get off the mark in the area, but the establishment of the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics, funded by the Wellcome Trust, will make it a focus for high quality neuroethics research (disclosure: I am employed by the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics on a part-time basis).

There are also significant neuroethics initiatives in Asia, in Japan and Taiwan, as well as in Australia. The growth of the field is dramatic. But in a sense it is not unexpected. Neuroscience itself moves so quickly, and probes aspects of ourselves so intimate, that the need for philosophical and ethical reflection is obvious, and the interest it attracts self-explanatory. 2008 also saw increased evidence of the recognition by scientists that ethical issues are at the heart of their work; witness the commentary published in Nature in December urging that the use of cognitive enhancements is permissible.

Developments in the field bode well for neuroethics, and for Neuroethics. I am proud of the quality of the articles we published in 2008. I expect 2009 will be characterized by work of equally high quality.

A new volume of Neuroethics also sees a new cover. I am very pleased that this issue sports an original artwork, by a talented artist, Sherry Loveless–Giordano, who is also immersed in the technological and scientific developments that inform the field. She has written a commentary on her artwork, which is published here.

Conference Announcement: Brain Matters, September 24–26 2009.

The call for abstracts for Brain Matters: New Directions in Neuroethics is now open. Brain Matters will be held in Halifax, Canada September 24–26 2009. Selected papers from the conference will be published in Neuroethics. Confirmed speakers include James Bernat, Walter Glannon, David Healy, Jonathan H. Marks, Barbara Sahakian and Caroline Tait.

For further information, and to submit an abstract visit either of the following websites:

http://www.noveltechethics.ca

http://neuroethics.ca