Abstract
In this paper, findings from research in neuroscience of morality will be reviewed to consider the purposes of moral education. Particularly, I will focus on two main themes in neuroscience, novel neuroimaging and experimental investigations, and Bayesian learning mechanism. First, I will examine how neuroimaging and experimental studies contributed to our understanding of psychological mechanisms associated with moral functioning while addressing methodological concerns. Second, Bayesian learning mechanism will be introduced to acquire insights about how moral learning occurs in human brains. Based on the reviewed neuroscientific research on morality, I will examine how evidence can support the model of moral education proposed by virtue ethics, Neo-Aristotelian moral philosophy in particular. Particularly, two main aims of virtue ethics-based moral education, the habituation of virtues and the cultivation of phronesis, will be discussed as the important purposes of moral education based on neuroscientific evidence.
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Notes
Kristjánsson and Fowers (2022) employed the example of decathlon to explain how the concept of phronesis, practical wisdom, plays fundamental roles in optimal moral functioning. Given that phronesis is associated with how to render the best decision in a given situation, it is inseparable from considering multiple complex conditions as well as organizing the coordination of virtues and values. These aspects of phronesis are similar to the nature of the decathlon, which requires its players to well organize cooperation of diverse athletic skills across different subjects depending on situational factors instead of merely focusing on individual subjects.
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Acknowledgements
The author thanks Peter Königs, Gregor Hochstetter, Hanno Sauer, Paul Rehren, Kirsten Meyer, Dominik Balg, Alex Madva, and other workshop members as well as three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. The author also appreciates Kelsie J Dawson’s feedback on the revised manuscript.
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Han, H. Considering the Purposes of Moral Education with Evidence in Neuroscience: Emphasis on Habituation of Virtues and Cultivation of Phronesis. Ethic Theory Moral Prac 27, 111–128 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-023-10369-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-023-10369-1