PHIL 4500 Seminar: Neuroethics
John D. Arras and Donna Chen / Fall 2014 /
Tuesdays, 5:15-7:45 PM, Barringer Wing 5382
COURSE SYNOPSIS: Team-taught by a philosopher (Prof. John Arras) and
psychiatrist (Prof. Donna Chen), this course will explore some implications of
neuroscience research and practice for ethics and society. One broad category of topics
will include the implications of advances in neuroscience (fMRI, psychopharmacology,
etc.) for our self-understanding. (Do we have free will? Should the law forget about
moral guilt?) A second category of topics will include the responsible uses of the powers
generated by neuroscience (e.g., Neuromarketing and the molding of consumer
preferences).
OFFICE HOURS: Regular office hours with John Arras will be held in Room 5367 in
Barringer Wing (Medical School) from 1:30-3:00 PM on Tuesdays and 11:30-1:00
PM on Thursdays. Alternative hours available by appointment. Drop-ins are usually
welcome. Office phone: 924-7863; home phone: 970-1712.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Students are required to attend seminar sessions on a regular basis and to come fully
prepared to participate in discussion of the assigned texts. There will be no examinations,
but each student will submit a substantial amount of writing. Undergraduates will be
expected to submit one paper of roughly 15-20 pages. Time permitting, each seminar
member will deliver a class presentation based upon his or her research during the
semester; everyone will also be expected to present brief expositions and analyses of
several texts throughout the course of the semester. Everyone will be charged with
writing short weekly email responses to the reading assignments. (More on this later.)
You will be graded mostly on the basis of the quality of your written work, but class
participation will also be a very important factor.
TOPICS FOR RESEARCH:
Given the breadth of topics discussed in this course and the mix of students enrolled, I
suspect that different students will be taking this seminar for different reasons. Students
in philosophy and religious studies may well be primarily interested in topics that directly
implicate their background in ethics, political philosophy or religious ethics – e.g., free
will -- while the cognitive science / neuroscience students might want to pursue a more
robust science/policy track. Consequently, students should feel free to follow their own
interests in their writing. Just be sure to consult with JDA as you mull over your choice
of topic. See below for a tentative table of contents (TOC).
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Martha J. Farah, Neuroethics: An Introduction with Readings (Univ. bookstore)
Supplementary Reader in Neuroethics (available at N.K. Print & Design, 7 Elliewood
Avenue (where Brillig Books used to be). 434-296-9669
Recommended supplementary text: Neil Levy, Neuroethics: Challenges for the 21st
Century (Cambridge, 2007). (This excellent book would be required were it not
obscenely overpriced. You can, however, rent it as a Kindle edition from Amazon for a
semi-reasonable price ($13.00). A few copies will be placed on reserve in Clemmons
Library.
GRADING: Your final grade will depend upon the quality of your contributions to
seminar discussions, your weekly response papers, and, of course, your final seminar
paper. Grading in an advanced seminar like this is an inexact science. Most of the
weight will lie with your term paper, which will be graded in phases (e.g., early
prospectus, first draft, final draft). The total weight for the paper should be around 50%
of your grade. The other 50% will be divided between your class participation (do you
come prepared, do you bring interesting comments / criticisms to the table?) and your
weekly responses to the readings (do you just fax in a couple of bland paragraphs,
regurgitating the main points; or do you say something interesting and conducive to
discussion?)
HONOR POLICY
We trust every student in this course to fully comply with all of the provisions of the
UVa Honor System. By enrolling in this course, you have agreed to abide by and
uphold the Honor System of the University of Virginia, as well as the following
policies specific to this course.
 All graded assignments must be pledged
 You may not access any notes, study outlines, problem sets, old exams,
answer keys, or collaborate with other students without our explicit
permission
 When given permission to collaborate with others, do not copy answers from
another student
 Always cite any resources or individuals you consult to complete an
assignment
 Violations may be forwarded to the Honor Committee and, at our discretion,
you may receive an “F” on a particular assignment or for the entire course,
regardless of any action taken by the Honor Committee.
If you believe you may have committed an Honor Offense, you may wish to file a
Conscientious Retraction (“CR”) by calling the Honor Offices at (434) 924-7602. For
your retraction to be considered valid, it must, among other things, be filed with the
Honor Committee before you are aware that the Act in question has come under
suspicion by anyone. More information can be found at www.virginia.edu/honor.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
All items in this TOC can be found either in our textbook (ed., Farah), highlighted in
bold below, or in the Supplementary Reader, shown below in normal greyscale.
Neuroethics: An Overview 1-10
Supplementary Readings:
Walter Glannon, Bioethics and the Brain. “Brain, Body and Self” pp 13-29
Martha Farah, Oxford Handbook of Neuroethics. “Neuroscience and Neuroethics in the
21st Century” pp. 761-776
Rebecca Goldstein, Plato at the Googleplex. “Plato in the Magnet.” Pp. 396-421.
Neurohype:
Eric Racine, “Neuroscience and the Media: Ethical Challenges and Opportunities”
Gary Marcus, “The Problem with the Neuroscience Backlash”
Better Brains
11
2.1 Lifestyle Drugs: Pharmacology and the Social Agenda, Rod Flower, 19
2.2 Neurocognitive Enhancement: What Can We Do and What Should We Do?
Martha J. Farah, et al., 30
2.3 The Run on Ritalin: Attention Deficit Disorder and Stimulant Treatment in
the 1990s
Lawrence H. Diller, 42
2.4 Beyond Therapy: Essential Sources of Concern, President's Council on
Bioethics, 58
2.5 Toward Responsible Use of Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs by the Healthy:
Policy Suggestions,
Henry Greely, et al., 73
Supplementary Readings:
Urban; Jun-Gao: “Performance enhancement at the cost of potential brain plasticity:
neural ramifications of nootropic drugs in the healthy
developing brain”
David Degrazia, “Moral Enhancement, Freedom, and What We Should Value in Moral
Behavior” and commentaries
Savulescu; Persson: Chapter from Unfit for the Future or “The Perils of Cognitive
Enhancement and the Urgent Imperative to Enhance the Moral Character of
Humanity”
Inmaculada de Melo-Martin and Arleen Salles, “Moral Bioenhancement: Much Ado
About Nothing?”
Brain, Self, and Authenticity
79
3.1 Memory Blunting: Ethical Analysis, President's Council on Bioethics, 88
3.2 Ethical Implications of Memory Dampening, Adam J. Kolber 97
3.3 Prozac as a Way of Life, Carl Elliott 119
3.4 The Valorization of Sadness: Alienation and the Melancholic
Temperament, Peter D. Kramer, 131
Supplementary Readings:
Walter Glannon, “Brain, Body and Self” pp 29-44
Michael Gazzaniga, The Ethical Brain. “The Brain Produces a Poor Autobiography” pp.
120-142
Brain Reading 137
4.1 Neuroimaging of Emotion and Personality: Ethical Considerations, Turhan
Canli and Zenab Amin, 147
4.2 Neurobiology of Intelligence: Science and Ethics, Jeremy R. Gray and Paul
M. Thompson, 155
4.3 Emerging Neurotechnologies for Lie Detection: Promises and Perils, Paul
Root Wolpe, Kenneth R. Foster, and Daniel D. Langleben, 165
4.4 fMRI in the Public Eye, Eric Racine, Ofek Bar-Ilan, and Judy Illes, 185
4.5 Race, Behavior, and the Brain: The Role of Neuroimaging in Understanding
Complex Social Behaviors, Elizabeth Phelps and Laura A. Thomas, 191
4.6 Regulating Neuroimaging, Stacey A. Tovino, 201
Supplementary Readings:
Hastings Center Report: “Interpreting Neuroimages: An Introduction to the Technology
and Its Limitations”
“Brain Imaging for Legal Thinkers: A Guide for the Perplexed”, Buckholtz; Shaw;
Marois
Neuroscience and Morality
Supplementary Readings:
Patricia Churchland, “The neurobiological platform for moral values”
Cushman; Greene, “Finding Faults: How Moral Dilemmas Illuminate Cognitive
Structure”
Joshua Greene, “Beyond Point-and-Shoot Morality: Why Cognitive (Neuro)Science
Matters for Ethics.”
Neuroscience and Justice 211
5.1 An Overview of the Impact of Neuroscience Evidence in Criminal Law,
President's Council on Bioethics Staff, 220
5.2 For the Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything, Joshua
Greene and Jonathan Cohen, 232
5.3 The Neurobiology of Addiction: Implications for the Voluntary Control of
Behavior, Steven E. Hyman, 259
5.4 Brain Overclaim Syndrome and Criminal Responsibility: A Diagnostic Note,
Stephen J. Morse, 268
5.5 State-Imposed Brain Intervention: The Case of Pharmacotherapy for Drug
Abuse, Richard G. Boire, 281
Supplementary Readings:
Herbert Morris, “Persons and Punishment”
P.F. Strawson, “Freedom and Resentment”
Derk Perreboom, “Determinism Al Dente”
Alfred Mele, “Free Will and Neuroscience”
Benjamin Libet,“Do We Have Free Will?”
Brains and Persons 295
6.1 Death, Unconsciousness, and the Brain 302 Steven Laureys
6.2 Personhood: An Illusion Rooted in Brain Function?
321 Martha J.
Farah and Andrea S. Heberlein
6.3 Animal Neuroethics and the Problem of Other Minds 339 Martha J. Farah
6.4 Digital People: Making Them and Using Them 350 Sidney Perkowitz
6.5 From Neurons to Politics-Without a Soul 357, Nancey Murphy
Supplementary Readings:
Neil Levy, “Neuroethics and the Extended Mind” pp. 285-294
Joseph Fins, “From the Persistent Vegetative State to the Minimally Conscious State:
Ethical Implications of Disorders of Consciousness”