Morality and the Mammalian Brain

Warning: Virtual Professors may be struck by the hand of God for writing this post, but we’ll take our chances.

While believers say morality comes from the big guy in the sky, neurophilosophers offers a different perspective. Patricia Churchland says it turns out that the way we look out for each other comes from a self-preservation system based on rewards and punishments. Trust, caring, relationships, all have ties to evolution. It was even said that “the history of evolution in mammals is the history of the development of a family way of life.”

Churchland is a Professor of Philosophy at the UC San Diego, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and your speaker for this evening.

And if you have a child, the next time you take care of him or her, make sure not to think about that you’re may be doing it for a release of oxytocin.

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