[Sci-tech-public] STS Circle, November 29th - Joshua Greene - (please RSVP)

[Harvard STS]

*PLEASE NOTE:*
1) Please RSVP by *5pm TUESDAY* to this week's Circle so that we can order
food in time.

2) In addition to the STS Circle next week, we will have an extra-ordinary
discussion on December 6th with Anne Pollock (Georgia Tech).
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*STS Circle at Harvard*
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*Joshua Greene
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*Psychology, Harvard*
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*The Moral Brain and How to Use It*
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Monday, November 29th
12:15-2:00 p.m.
124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 100, Room 106

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Lunch is provided if you RSVP.
Please RSVP to sts <sts at hks.harvard.edu>@hks.harvard.edu<sts at hks.harvard.edu>
 by 5pm Tuesday, November 23rd.

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*Abstract:* Does the "is" is of empirical moral psychology have
 implications for the "ought" of normative ethics and public policy?  I'll
argue that it does.  One cannot deduce moral truths form scientific truths,
but psychology may nevertheless influence moral thinking in profound ways.
 First, I'll review evidence for the dual-process theory of moral judgment,
according to which characteristically deontological judgments (ones favoring
individual rights over the greater good) tend to be driven by automatic
emotional responses while characteristically consequentialist judgments
(favoring the greater good over individual rights) tend  to be driven by
controlled cognitive processes.  I'll then consider the respective functions
of automatic and controlled processes.  Automatic processes are like the
point-and-shoot settings on a camera, efficient but inflexible.  Controlled
processes are like a camera's manual mode, inefficient but flexible.
 Putting these theses together, I'll argue that deontological philosophy is
essentially a rationalization of automatic responses that are too inflexible
to handle our peculiarly modern moral problems, including many important
policy problems.  I'll recommend consequentialist thinking as a better
alternative for dealing with moral problems at the policy level.

*Biography*: I study moral judgment and decision-making using behavioral
experiments, functional neuroimaging (fMRI), and other neuroscientific
methods.  The goal of my research is to understand how moral judgments are
shaped by automatic processes (such as emotional "gut reactions") and
controlled cognitive processes (such as reasoning and self-control).  Much
of  my current work is aimed at understanding these automatic and controlled
processes in more detailed functional terms. Much of my research is
motivated by normative philosophical questions.  I am currently writing a
book about the moral implications of our emerging scientific understanding
of morality.

A complete list of STS Circle at Harvard events can be found on our website:
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/sts/events/sts_circle/
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