2012 Bioethics Conference: The Moral Brain
Friday, March 30th - Sunday, April 1st, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: NYU WSQ Campus, Room TBA
This is a two part conference with the NYU Center for Bioethics, Duke Kenan Institute for Ethics, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.
Download Flyer PDF
RSVP Required
This event is free and open to the public. However, space is limited so please register here only if you plan on attending.
Hotel Information
Conference Program
Part I: “The Significance of Neuroscience for Morality: Lessons from a Decade of Research”
Organized by the NYU Center for Bioethics in collaboration with the Duke Kenan Institute for Ethics
It has been a decade since the first brain imaging studies of moral judgments by Joshua Greene, Jorge Moll and their colleagues were reported. During this time, there have been rich philosophical and scientific discussions regarding a) whether brain imaging data can tell us anything about moral judgments, and b) what they do tell us if they can tell us something about moral judgments. In this workshop, we aim to bring leading philosophers, neuroscientists, and psychologists in this area together to examine these issues and to explore the future directions of this research.
Opening Remarks:
Thomas Carew, Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science, New York University
Speakers:
James Blair, Chief of the Unit on Affective Cognitive Neuroscience at NIMH
Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology, Yale University
Molly Crockett, Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Social & Nueral Systems Research, Department of Economics, University of Zurich
Tamar Gendler, Professor of Philosophy, Yale University
Joshua Greene, John & Ruth Hazel Associate Professor of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
Jonathan Haidt, Professor in the Social Psychology, University of Virginia; Henry Kaufman Visiting Professor, Leonard Stern School of Business, New York University
Guy Kahane, Deputy Director & Research Fellow, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford
S. Matthew Liao, Associate Director & Clinical Associate Professor, Center for Bioethics; Affiliated Professor of Philosophy, New York University
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Chauncey Stillman Professor in Practical Ethics, Department of Philosophy & Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University
James Woodward, Distinguished Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh
Liane Young, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Boston College
Session Chairs:
Andre Fenton, Professor of Neural Science, Center for Neural Science, New York University
Laura Franklin-Hall, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, New York University
Don Garrett, Chair of Department and Professor of Philosophy, New York University
Paul Glimcher, Director, Center for Neural Economics; Silver Professor; Professor of Neural Science, Economics and Psychology, New York University
Joshua Knobe, Associate Professor, Program in Cognitive Science & Department of Philosophy, Yale University
Joseph LeDoux, University Professor; Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science; Professor of Neural Science and Psychology, Center for Neural Science and Psychology, New York University
Victoria McGreer, Research Scholar, Center for Human Values, Princeton University
Jesse Prinz, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, City University of New York
William Ruddick, Director, Center for Bioethics; Professor of Philosophy, New York University
Michael Strevens, Professor of Philosophy, New York University
Part II: "Can Moral Behavior be Improved or Enhanced?"
Organized by the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and the Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies. Hosted by the NYU Center for Bioethics.
Should the research on moral psychology be interpreted as suggesting new approaches for improving, or perhaps enhancing, moral intuitions, attitudes, judgments, and behavior or for reforming social institutions? Can we create more effective educational tools for improving moral development? For the last century psychiatry has attempted to medicalize moral failings - lack of self-control, addiction, anger, impatience, fear. But what of engineering ourselves to higher states of virtue? If the enhancement of morality is possible, which virtues or cognitive capabilities will it be safe to enhance and how? What might be the unanticipated side effects of attempts to enhance moral behavior?
Speakers:
Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology, Yale University
William Casebeer, Intelligence Officer & Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Airforce, Former Associate Professor of Philosophy at U.S. Air Force Academy
Molly Crockett, Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory of Social & Nueral Systems Research, Department of Economics, University of Zurich
James Giordano, Director of the Center for Neurotechnology Studies & Vice President for Academic Programs at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies; Senior Research Associate, Centre for Neuroethics & Uehiro Centre for Practical Philosophy, University of Oxford; University Affiliate Professor of Molecular Neuroscience, Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies, George Mason University
Joshua Greene, John & Ruth Hazel Associate Professor of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
James Hughes, Executive Director, Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies; Director, Institutional Research & Planning, Trinity College
Fabrice Jotterand, Assistant Professor, Clinical Sciences & Psychiatry, Southwestern Medical Center, University of Texas
William Kabasenche, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Washington State University
Joshua Knobe, Associate Professor, Program in Cognitive Science & Department of Philosophy, Yale University
Andrea Kuszewski, Affiliate Scholar of the IEET; Researcher, METODO Social Sciences Institute
S. Matthew Liao, Associate Director, Center for Bioethics; Clinical Associate Professor of Bioethics; Affiliated Professor of Philosophy, New York University
Maxwell Mehlman, Professor of Bioethics & Law, Case Western Reserve University
Geoffrey Miller, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of New Mexico
Anna Pacholczyk
Ingmar Persson, Professor of Practical Philosophy, University of Gothenburg; Research Fellow, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
Erik Parens, Senior Research Scholar, The Hasting Center
Martine Rothblatt, charter member of IEET Board of Trustees
Jonathan Shook
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Chauncey Stillman Professor in Practical Ethics, Department of Philosophy & Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University
Wendell Wallach, Scholar & Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Yale University
Please check back at a later date for more details.
View Last year's conference here