Mind 119 (475):585-614 (2010)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Metaethics has recently been confronted by evidence from cognitive neuroscience that tacit emotional processes play an essential causal role in moral judgement. Most neuroscientists, and some metaethicists, take this evidence to vindicate a version of metaethical sentimentalism. In this paper we argue that the ‘dual process’ model of cognition that frames the discussion within and without philosophy does not do justice to an important constraint on any theory of deliberation and judgement. Namely, decision-making is the exercise of a capacity for agency. Agency, in turn, requires a capacity to conceive of oneself as temporally extended: to inhabit, in both memory and imagination, an autobiographical past and future. To plan, to commit to plans, and to act in accordance with previous plans requires a diachronic self, able to transcend the present moment. While this fact about agency is central to much of moral philosophy (e.g. in discussions of autonomy and moral responsibility) it is opaque to the dual process framework and those meta-ethical accounts which situate themselves within this model of cognition. We show how this is the case and argue for an empirically adequate account of moral judgement which gives sufficient role to memory and imagination as cognitive prerequisites of agency. We reconsider the empirical evidence, provide an alternative, agentive, interpretation of key findings, and evaluate the consequences for metaethics.
|
Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1093/mind/fzq037 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Damage to the Prefrontal Cortex Increases Utilitarian Moral Judgements.Michael Koenigs, Liane Young, Ralph Adolphs, Daniel Tranel, Fiery Cushman, Marc Hauser & Antonio Damasio - 2007 - Nature 446 (7138):908-911.
Is Vision Continuous with Cognition?: The Case for Cognitive Impenetrability of Visual Perception.Zenon Pylyshyn - 1999 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 22 (3):341-365.
How Does Moral Judgment Work?Joshua Greene & Jonathan Haidt - 2002 - Trends in Cognitive Sciences 6 (12):517-523.
Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives.Philippa Foot - 1972 - Philosophical Review 81 (3):305-316.
An Integrative Theory of Prefrontal Cortex Function.Earl K. Miller & Jonathan D. Cohen - 2001 - Annual Review of Neuroscience 24 (1):167-202.
View all 23 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
The Roots of Remembering: Radically Enactive Recollecting.Daniel D. Hutto & Anco Peeters - 2018 - In Kourken Michaelian, Dorothea Debus & Denis Perrin (eds.), New Directions in the Philosophy of Memory. New York: Routledge. pp. 97-118.
Psychopaths and Blame: The Argument From Content.Neil Levy - 2014 - Philosophical Psychology 27 (3):351–367.
A Principled and Cosmopolitan Neuroethics: Considerations for International Relevance.John R. Shook & James Giordano - 2014 - Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 9:1.
Psychopaths and Filthy Desks: Are Emotions Necessary and Sufficient for Moral Judgment?Hanno Sauer - 2012 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 15 (1):95-115.
Psychopaths and Blame: The Argument From Content.Neil Levy - 2014 - Philosophical Psychology 27 (3):351-367.
View all 16 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Beyond the Comparator Model: A Multi-Factorial Two-Step Account of Agency.Matthis Synofzik, Gottfried Vosgerau & Albert Newen - 2008 - Consciousness and Cognition 17 (1):219-239.
Metaethics and Emotions Research: A Response to Prinz.Karen Jones - 2006 - Philosophical Explorations 9 (1):45-53.
Conscious Will, Reason-Responsiveness, and Moral Responsibility.Markus E. Schlosser - 2013 - The Journal of Ethics 17 (3):205-232.
Artificial Agency, Consciousness, and the Criteria for Moral Agency: What Properties Must an Artificial Agent Have to Be a Moral Agent? [REVIEW]Kenneth Einar Himma - 2009 - Ethics and Information Technology 11 (1):19-29.
Thinking and Feeling: Moral Deliberation in a Dual-Process Framework.Jillian Craigie - 2011 - Philosophical Psychology 24 (1):53-71.
Moral Agency in Other Animals.Paul Shapiro - 2006 - Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 27 (4):357-373.
Principle-Based Moral Judgement.Maike Albertzart - 2013 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 16 (2):339-354.
Storytelling and Moral Agency.Lynne Tirrell - 1990 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 48 (2):115-126.
Agency and Responsibility: A Common-Sense Moral Psychology.Jeanette Kennett - 2001 - Oxford University Press.
Autism, Empathy and Moral Agency.Jeanette Kennett - 2002 - Philosophical Quarterly 52 (208):340-357.
Moral Structure Falls Out of General Event Structure.Brent Strickland, Matt Fisher & Joshua Knobe - 2012 - Psychological Inquiry 23 (2):198-205.
The Two Sources of Moral Standing.Justin Sytsma & Edouard Machery - 2012 - Review of Philosophy and Psychology 3 (3):303-324.
What Experimental Evidence Shows Us About the Role of Emotions in Moral Judgement.Heidi Maibom - 2010 - Philosophy Compass 5 (11):999-1012.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2010-09-01
Total views
551 ( #15,242 of 2,498,399 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #426,910 of 2,498,399 )
2010-09-01
Total views
551 ( #15,242 of 2,498,399 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
1 ( #426,910 of 2,498,399 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads