The Ethical Brain - by Michael S Gazzaniga (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A provocative and fascinating look at new discoveries about the brain that challenge our ethics

The rapid advance of scientific knowledge has raised ethical dilemmas that humankind has never before had to address. Questions about the moment when life technically begins and ends or about the morality of genetically designing babies are now relevant and timely. Our ever-increasing knowledge of the workings of the human brain can guide us in the formation of new moral principles in the twenty-first century. In The Ethical Brain, preeminent neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga presents the emerging social and ethical issues arising out of modern-day brain science and challenges the way we look at them. Courageous and thought-provoking -- a work of enormous intelligence, insight, and importance -- this book explores the hitherto uncharted landscape where science and society intersect.

From the Back Cover

A provocative and fascinating look at new discoveries about the brain that challenge our ethics

The rapid advance of scientific knowledge has raised ethical dilemmas that humankind has never before had to address. Questions about the moment when life technically begins and ends or about the morality of genetically designing babies are now relevant and timely. Our ever-increasing knowledge of the workings of the human brain can guide us in the formation of new moral principles in the twenty-first century. In The Ethical Brain, preeminent neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga presents the emerging social and ethical issues arising out of modern-day brain science and challenges the way we look at them. Courageous and thought-provoking -- a work of enormous intelligence, insight, and importance -- this book explores the hitherto uncharted landscape where science and society intersect.

Review Quotes

"Highly informed account of how our brain forms our beliefs and how we can determine what beliefs serve us best." - Robert Bazell, chief health and science correspondent, NBC News

"An extraordinary book... lucid, provocative, and deeply interesting. This is important and fascinating." - Kay Redfield Jamison

"One of the most brilliant experimental neuroscientists in the world... This is a provocative and highly readable book." - Tom Wolfe

"The great frontier is the question of how we will deal with one another, this gets us on our way." - Alan Alda

"Wonderfully nourishing food for thought. Gazzaniga tackles some of the toughest ethical issues of our time with vigor, intelligence, insight." - Diane Ackerman

"writes with verve and expertise about the fascinating issues that will confront us as our knowledge of the brain expands." - Steven Pinker, author of The Blank Slate and How the Mind Works