The Ethical Brain: Philosophy and Neuroscience Fall 2017 Credits: 3 Credits External course: University of Copenhagen Course Majors: Ethics, Neuroscience, Philosophy Instructor: René Rosfort Place: Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen, South Campus, Room 6B.0.22 Schedule: Thursdays 13:30-16:00 Description of course: The past three decades have seen an explosive surge in neuroscientific explanations of human nature, promising clear-cut biological answers to commonplace philosophical questions concerning rationality, emotion, behavior, values, and ethics. This course sets out to examine to what extent such a promise is warranted in particular concerning existential questions such as anxiety, responsibility, and religious faith. Instructor: René Rosfort, PhD & MA (University of Copenhagen, 2008 & 2003). Gold Medal Award from U of Copenhagen, 2002. Associate Professor (Kierkegaard Research Centre, University of Copenhagen). E-mail: rer@teol.ku.dk Learning objectives of the course: By the end of this course you will be able to understand and evaluate critically the growing presence of neuroscience in discussions about human nature and ethics in public media, in policy making, and in academic research. Besides getting a solid understanding of the historical development of the neuroscientific image of human nature, you will learn about paradigmatic ethical theories; the complex relation between science, philosophy, and religion; and fundamental theoretical issues concerning the contemporary endeavor to naturalize human nature, and ethics in particular. This should enable you to participate in discussions about the virtues and limits of neuroscience, to discern between valid scientific claims and less tenable scientific claims, and to distinguish sound critique of scientism from mere science bashing. Required texts: 1. Patricia S. Churchland. Touching a Nerve: Our Brains, Our Selves. New York: W.W. Norton & Company 2013. 2. Kathleen Taylor. The Brain Supremacy: Notes from the Frontiers of Neuroscience. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2012. 3. John Deigh. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010. DIS Contact: Sanne Rasmussen, Program Coordinator, European Humanities Department, sra@dis.dk Approach to Teaching: The sessions are structured as a combination of lecture and discussion with a focus on engaging the student. Each session is framed by a systematic PowerPoint presentation of the themes and readings in question. The presentation will encourage and guide the discussion in the class. The student can expect a lively and systematically oriented teacher who will attempt to make the issues both interesting and relevant to a contemporary setting while maintaining a substantial theoretical level and the necessary historical perspective.
Expectations of the students: I expect you to have done the required reading for each class and to think about issues, problems, and questions for me and for the other students. This will give us material to generate conversation. I encourage engaged participation in the discussions of the various themes of each session. I expect, however, that in the discussion you will make use of the theoretical tools and the historical background that you are expected to have learned as the course progresses. Evaluation: The course is both theoretical and practical in the sense that I aim at enhancing your argumentative skill on the basis of the theoretical tools and the historical insight that the course provides you with. To think about neuroscience, human nature, and ethics means to engage in an ongoing contemporary discussion that affects major aspects of human existence societal as well as personal. Therefore, much of the work in the class will be in the form of discussion. There will be three short written assignments (after sessions 3, 6, and 8), and one longer, final paper. The written assignments will deal with the historical and theoretical aspects of the course. I value independent thinking and personal engagement in both the written assignments and in the discussions in the class, but only if these aspects of your work rest on solid arguments built on the theoretical and historical foundation of the course. So independent thinking and personal engagement will be rewarded, if they are kept in balance with the intellectual and academic standard of the course. Grading: Engaged participation: 10% Final paper: 45% 3 short assignments: 45% (Each of the short assignments counts for 15%) Written assignments: The short assignments: 4-5 pages long 1 st assignment due Wednesday, September 20 2 nd assignment due Wednesday, October 18 3 rd assignment due Wednesday, November 8 Final paper: 10-12 pages long and due Monday, December 11 Attendance: Class attendance is required, including classes with guest lecturers. According to UCPH policy, all students must be present 75% of the time to receive a grade. (For DIS students: the DIS Director of Teaching and Learning, and the Director of Student Affairs, must be notified if you are absent four times or more). Plagiarism Policy: In accordance with UCPH rules for academic ethics, there will be a no tolerance policy towards cheating and plagiarism. The submission of any paper which is not your own work will result in an automatic F for the course and possible notification of your home university. Disability and Resource Statement Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should immediately contact Office of Academic Support (acadsupp@dis.dk) to coordinate this. In order to receive accommodations, students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations.
Course Schedule Session 1 (August 24): Introduction: Thinking about the Brain Existing With the Brain University Press 2012, Ch. 1 +2 (pp. 1-33). John Deigh. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010, Ch. 1 (pp. 1-24). Mark F. Bear, Barry W. Connors, and Michael A. Paradiso, Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2006, Ch. 1 (pp. 4-22). Session 2 (August 31): From the Soul to the Brain I: A Short History of Neuroscience University Press 2012, Ch. 1-2 + 14-15 (225-258). John Deigh. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010, Ch. 2 (pp. 25-55). M.R. Bennett & P.M.S. Hacker: Philosophical Foundations of Neuroscience. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing 2003, Ch. 1 (pp. 11-42). Daniel Lord Smail, On Deep History of the Brain. Berkeley: University of California Press 2008, Ch. 4 (pp. 112-149). Session 3 (September 7): From the Soul to the Brain II: Darwin, Evolution, and Religion Jerry A. Coyne, Why Evolution is True. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2009, Ch. 1 (pp. 1-20). Michael Ruse, Belief in God in a Darwinian Age. In: J. Hodge & G. Radick (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Darwin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2009, Ch. 15 (pp. 368-389). John Deigh. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010, Ch. 3 (pp. 56-92). Theodosius Dobzhansky, Nothing in Biology Makes Sense except in the Light of Evolution, The American Biology Teacher, vol. 35, no. 3 (1973): 125-9. Daniel Lord Smail, In the Grip of Sacred History. American Historical Review, vol. 105, nr. 5 (2005 December): 1337-1361. 1 st short written assignment (due Wednesday, September 20) Session 4 (September 21): Naturalism: The End of the Journey? Paul Thagard, The Brain and the Meaning of Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2010, Ch. 1 (pp. 1-12). Barry Stroud, The Charm of Naturalism. Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, Vol. 70, No. 2 (Nov., 1996): 43-55. John Deigh. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010, Ch. 4 (pp. 93-122). David Papineau "Naturalism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/naturalism/>.
Session 5 (September 28): Paradigmatic Ethical Theories I: Aristotle and David Hume Required Reading: Richard Kraut. "Aristotle's Ethics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2017/entries/aristotle-ethics/>. Rachel Cohon. "Hume's Moral Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2010/entries/hume-moral/>. John Deigh. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010, Ch. 5 (pp. 123-156). University Press 2012. (The remaining chapters). Session 6 (October 5): Paradigmatic Ethical Theories II: Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill Robert Johnson and Adam Cureton. "Kant's Moral Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/kant-moral/>. David Brink. "Mill's Moral and Political Philosophy", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2016/entries/mill-moral-political/>. John Deigh. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010, Ch. 6 (pp. 157-195). University Press 2012. (The remaining chapters). 2 nd short written assignment (due Wednesday, October 18) Session 7 (October 19): Thinking About Norms and Values in the Time of Neuroscience Ch. 1-2 (pp. 1-63). John Deigh. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010, Ch. 7 (pp. 196-232). Adina Roskies Neuroethics. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neuroethics/ Session 8 (October 26): Philosophy, Religion, and Science: A Challenging Dialogue Ch. 4 (pp. 83-120). Paul Thagard, The Brain and the Meaning of Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2010, Ch. 2 (pp. 13-41). Peter Harrison, Science and Religion : Constructing the Boundaries. In: T. Dixon, G. Cantor & S. Pumfrey (eds.), Science and Religion: New Historical Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University 2010, Ch. 2 (pp. 23-50). Thomas Dixon, Science and Religion: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2008, Ch. 1 (pp. 1-17). 3 rd short written assignment (due Wednesday, November 8)
Session 9 (November 9): The Feeling Brain: Emotions, Neurons, and Rationality Required Reading Antonio Damasio, The Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain. London: William Heinemann 2010, Ch. 5 (pp. 108-129). Optional Reading David Pugmire, Emotion and Emotion Science, European Journal of Analytical Philosophy, vol. 2, nr. 1: 7-27 Jesse J. Prinz, Beyond Human Nature: How Culture and Experience Shape Our Lives. London: Allen Lane 2012, Ch. 10 (pp. 241-266). Session 10 (November 16): Who is Acting?: The Good, the Brain, and the Self Martha J. Farah & Andrea Heberlin, Personhood and neuroscience: Naturalizing or Nihilating? American Journal of Bioethics, vol. 7, nr. 1 (2007): pp. 37-48. Michael S. Gazzaniga, The Ethical Brain. New York: Dana Press 2005, Ch. 10 (pp. 163-178). Kai Vogeley & Shaun Gallagher, Self in the Brain. In: Shaun Gallagher, The Oxford Handbook of the Self. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2011, Ch. 4 (pp. 111-136). Stephen L. White, Phenomenology and the Normativity of Practical Reason. In: Mario de Caro & David Macarthur (eds.), Naturalism and Normativity. New York: Columbia University Press 2010, Ch. 10. Session 11 (November 30): How to Live with a Bad Brain: Depression, Suffering, and Responsibility Richard J. McNally, What is Mental Illness? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 2011, Ch. 1 (pp. 1-32). Nancy C. Andreasen, Brave New Brain: Conquering Mental Illness in the Era of the Genome. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001, Ch. 3 (pp. 25-37). Edward Shorter, The History of DSM. In: Joel Paris & James Phillips (eds.) Making the DSM-5: Concepts and Controversies. New York: Springer 2013 (pp. 3-19). Session 12 (December 7): Neuroethics: Reality, Morality, and Human Beings NB: Possible change of time and location. Martha J. Farah, Neuroethics: The Ethical, Legal, and Societal Impact of Neuroscience. Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 63 (2012): 571-591. Ch. 7 (pp. 168-194). V.S. Ramachandran, The Tell-Tale Brain: Unlocking the Mystery of Human Nature. London: William Heinemann 2011: Introduction (pp. 3-23). Thomas Nagel, You Can t Learn About Morality From Brain Scans. The New Republic, November 1, 2013. Adina Roskies Neuroethics. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neuroethics/ Final Paper (due Monday, December 11)