Hardwired Behavior: What Neuroscience Reveals about Morality [Hardcover]

Laurence Tancredi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2005

In many areas of modern life rapid developments in science are overwhelming established norms. Brain biology, through DNA testing and advanced brain imaging techniques, has given medical scientists new insights into the functioning of the human mind. This erosion of long-standing beliefs has many implications for understanding and treating what society considers to be aberrant or immoral behavior. What medical science is indicating is that the focus of our emphasis on mental processes--particularly free will and intentionality--is shifting to recognition of the important role the physical brain plays on human thought and behavior. In Hardwired Behavior the author argues that social morality begins in the brain, for without the brain there would be no concept of morality. Individual responsibility, therefore, must be reconsidered in the light of biological brain processes. The question of whether new scientific findings destroy the relevance of free will, placing it in the context of biological forces that may operate outside the conscious control of the actor, is one of intense debate. Hardwired Behavior takes this question and moves it into the open by clearly detailing neuroscience discoveries and explaining how the ancient precepts of "morality" that have guided mankind throughout its history must now be seen through the new lens of brain biology.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Society's assumptions about free will and individual responsibility must be drastically revised in the light of scientific discoveries about the brain, argues this fascinating study. Drawing on a wealth of recent developments in neurobiology, genetics and brain imaging, Tancredi, a professor of psychiatry and a lawyer, examines new findings about the neurological structures and processes that underlie reasoning, emotions and decision-making. He applies these discoveries to such traditional moral concerns as violence, sexual infidelity, lying, gluttony and sloth, and even financial fraud and gambling. The striking results of this research, he notes, indicate that hormones, drugs, genetic abnormalities, injuries and traumatic experiences all have profound effects on brain structure and functioning, and hence on moral choices; indeed, some experiments imply that our actions are initiated by the unconscious brain before we are consciously aware of them, raising the possibility that our sense of moral agency is a retrospective "illusion." Tancredi supplements his rather dry exposition of the science with case studies from his clinical practice, including lengthy profiles of a sex-addicted patient and of a "biologically driven" serial killer, and closes by pondering the possibility and perils of a hypothetical Brave New World-style program of neurological intervention-complete with brain implants-to improve morality. Some will consider Tancredi's talk of the "empathetic" female brain and "systemizing" male brain and his chalking up of pedophilia to "an imbalance of the monoamine neurotransmitters" and homosexuality to "differences in neurohumeral activity during the prenatal phase" to be glibly reductionist, but many will find his well-researched overview of the new science of the brain a stimulating addition to the debate about human nature.
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From Booklist

Behind the bad moral choices that sent Martha Stewart to prison, Tancredi discerns abnormal functioning of the brain. Indeed, much of what traditional morality has condemned as greed, lust, or sin looks like impaired neurobiology to this psychiatrist-lawyer, who locates the foundations of an ethical conscience in healthy genetic coding and properly balanced mental chemistry. Real case studies allow readers to see the implications of revolutionary neurological research, illuminating the ways that both the nurturing parent and the rampaging psychopath respond to deep neural impulses. Traditional concepts such as free will and moral accountability do shrink when viewed from this scientific perspective, as Tancredi candidly acknowledges, even conceding the dark possibility of a future in which ambitious social engineers might implant programmable chips into the pliant brains of puppet citizens. But a neuroscience that can enhance rather than diminish our humanity comes into focus as Tancredi highlights research showing how fully the brain can reshape itself by replacing destructive addictions to drugs, sex, or gambling with constructive aspirations and genuine social empathy. The oldest moral concerns and the latest scientific investigations are fused here. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; First Edition edition (September 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521860016
• ISBN-13: 978-0521860017
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to the ethics of the twenty-first century, November 20, 2005

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Dr. Lee D. Carlson (Baltimore, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hardwired Behavior: What Neuroscience Reveals about Morality (Hardcover)

With the rapid demise of religious ethics and the belief by many that there is a fixed, immutable human nature, it is perhaps of no surprise that some ethicists would look to the brain for answers to fundamental questions in ethics. The study of the brain has revealed, at least in the last decade, that many behaviors, if not all, can be given a causal explanation. But traditional formulations of ethics have held it to be axiomatic that if (human) behaviors are to be classified as either "good" or "bad", i.e. if a system of ethics is to be constructed, then this system must hold that human actions are the result of free will, that they be the result of free, conscious intent.

Research in neuroscience has given serious doubt as to the axiomatic status of free will. Indeed, some researchers have dispensed with the notion all together, and have spoken of the "illusion" of conscious will. If one examines this research with an open but skeptical mind, one will discover a rich source of ideas, supported by empirical data that enable one to begin the construction of a system of ethics that is grounded entirely in neuroscience. The system has been referred to as `neuroethics', and has attracted the attention of some philosophers and many in the legal profession. Neuroethics is based on a profound and some might say frightening view of human nature and personal identity. But it has so far delivered on its (unstated) promise of giving a scientific foundation for ethics.

In this book the author gives a somewhat brief but helpful overview of neuroethics. His background is in psychiatry, and therefore he is able to give a different perspective on the subject, namely of someone who is interacting with patients and therefore observes more directly the consequences of the complicated synapses of the brain. Such a perspective is refreshing, since a successful theory of ethics must address directly the problems, conflicts, and moral dilemmas of real people, and not just engage in abstract theorizing, the latter of which has been the predominant methodology in ethics, especially in philosophical circles.

No doubt there will be many who when reading this book will be aghast at the willingness of the author to question the concept of free will and to embrace the notion that ethical and moral principles are "hardwired" in the brain. It might appear that concepts such as personal responsibility cannot be contained in neuroethics, and if so this has direct consequences both politically and legally. The reader will find however that one can still have a notion of personal responsibility in neuroethics, although it will be one that is different than the ones that are found in many different ethical systems.

If neuroethics is to be comprehensive in scope it must deal meaningfully with some of the more typical issues that ethics grapples with, such as greed, deception, and sexual relations. Can neuroscience explain for example the reason(s) that some individuals crave enormous amounts of wealth, even though they would never have the time nor the energy to enjoy the things their quantity of wealth would allow them to have? The author takes on the first part of this question by identifying the regions of the brain that affect monetary decision-making: the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex. Financial decision-making does of course involve wild swings in emotion, so it is not surprising to learn these regions come into play. The amygdala for example is involved in `conditioned fear', responds sensitively to winning and losing. The author quotes fMRI studies that show how the amygdala is activated when economic losses occur. Interestingly, research of this same type indicates that economic gains do not activate the amygdala to the same extent as losses do. The author though is careful to note that there is a lot of variation in the response of the amygdala, this arising from genetics and brain biology. Some genetic abnormalities he reports can be responsible for some individuals to react with an "excess of fear" when they are confronted with financial decisions that are extremely risky. But it is the `dopamine system' that supplies the appropriate pleasure when wealth is accumulated. In this context, and this is most interesting, the author claims that the human brain loves risk taking, but that these risks are a matter of degree. A reward that is less predictable will result in a larger amount of dopamine produced, thus overwhelming the individual with pleasure. Money, the author says, acts on different pathways of the reward system than "natural rewards", such as food and water, and affects the brain in a way similar to some drugs, such as cocaine. And the pleasures of dopamine (from making money), like the pleasures of cocaine, lead to an excess of behavior in obtaining this money, which we normally refer to as greed. And this greed can result in uncontrolled compulsions with the result that lying, fraud, or embezzlement can become frequent strategies in the obsessive goal of obtaining more money.

Grounding the basis of ethics in neuronal processes raises issues in traditional (philosophical) formulations of ethics that the author does not address. He is correct to do so, since these formulations are too abstract to be of much value to the real problems of humankind. There is much that neuroethics needs to answer before it can be practical, but the author's discussion makes it readily apparent that it should be considered seriously. In addition, it brings up complex legal and political issues dealing with the genetic engineering of the brain. The author addresses the latter topic in the book by including a hypothetical debate that is set in the year 2100. In that debate certain groups of individuals are advocating brain modification in order to alleviate or eliminate negative social behaviors. The engineering of the brain may seem disquieting to some, but its consequences are awesome, and it should be pursued with cautious optimism.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading for Anyone Concerned About Behavior, Responsibility, Crime and Punishment, February 25, 2006

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Dr. Richard G. Petty (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hardwired Behavior: What Neuroscience Reveals about Morality (Hardcover)

This really is an outstanding piece of work. The author is both a psychiatrist and a lawyer who argues, quite rightly, that many of our assumptions about free will and individual responsibility must be drastically revised in the light of scientific discoveries about the brain.

This is part of a larger debate that is going on within psychiatry, psychology and the legal profession. As an example, at what age should a young person be able to drive a car or be legally liable for their decisions? The driving question comes up because the brain and nervous system of a fifteen-year-old is still far from being fully mature, and may lead to poor coordination and decision-making. Can an eighteen-year-old be held liable for his or her behavior, at a time that his or her brain is not fully formed? Yet he or she is able to fight for his or her country. Our answers to those questions are likely to be a mixture of political positions and personal experience. But now we also have to factor in our burgeoning knowledge about the brain. There seems no doubt that this explosion of knowledge about the brain will be factored into some future legal decisions.

In Tancredi's book, he applies knowledge derived from recent research to such traditional moral concerns as violence, sexual infidelity, lying and physical "excess." For anybody working in the field, it is very clear that hormones, nutritional status, drugs, genetic abnormalities, injuries and traumatic experiences all have profound effects on the structure and functioning of the brain. Therefore they may all have an impact on our moral choices. Some experimental work implies that our actions are initiated by pre-conscious and unconscious processes in the brain before we are consciously aware of them. Does that mean that our sense of moral agency is a retrospective illusion? And what about free will?? Is that an illusion too?

I very much like this book, and also the recent book by Michael Gazzaniga, entitled The Ethical Brain. But for all the research, we remain bewilderingly complex creatures, and there is evidence for the existence of systems - for instance social systems - that can interact with and over-ride some of the neurological ones. So even after reading and studying hundreds of books and scientific papers and talking to hundreds of scientists around the world, I remain convinced that free will is not an illusion, and that there really is a genuine morality which is a great deal more than the firing of neurons in the brain.

Highly recommended.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sciguy, February 8, 2006

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sciguy (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hardwired Behavior: What Neuroscience Reveals about Morality (Hardcover)

AMAZING!
I found out about this book because, while waiting in my dentists office, I happened to read the rave review in NATURE MAGAZINE. The concepts of morality and the brain were not only revelatory and fascinating, Tancredi's writing style made them surprisingly engaging. I actually had a hard time putting it down. I question why I haven't heard more about it. I make a point to read the New York Times Book Review every week, and though I've found many books I've enjoyed that way, few have been as interesting. Perhaps this new concept of brain function and free will is a little too controversial. In any case, I'm glad I found out about it. I don't think I'll ever look at my choices/decision making in quite the same way.