Neurophilosophy

The Association of Morality and the Social Brain

 Patricia Churchland
is a neurophilosopher who contributed to the fields of
philosophy of neuroscience, philosophy of the mind and
neuroethics. Her research has centered on the similarities
between neuroscience and philosophy with a focus on the
association of morality and the social brain.
1. ‌Patricia Churchland- She believes that our moral decision making is a constraint satisfaction
process whereby our brain takes many factors and integrates them into decisions. With these it
leads her to believe that our brain shapes our moral impulses, as well as our political views. In
one of her books called "Conscience" she stated that wle humans as well as animals especially
mammals feel moral intuitions it is because of how our brain works. If we humans feel happy,
sad or angry it also implies to those mammals who have the same emotions like us humans, but
unlike animals we humans have more neurons. With these philosophy that she holds she received
a lot of criticism from philosophers saying that she's not using the "proper philosophy" and that
she overvalue science as if that it is the only source of knowledge (scientism).
Our Members Personal Experiences based
on Churchland Philosophy
• Morality is the standard of society used to decide what is right or wrong behavior. An
example of morality is the belief by someone that it is wrong to take what doesn't belong
to them, even if no one would know. Principles of right and wrong in conduct. And that
relates what Patricia Churchland beliefs and my experiences about the Philospher that
was assigned to us which is Patricia Churchland is that she had a wide mind which she
believes that Mammals-Humas Monkeys and Rodents and so on are feel moral
intuitions because of how out brains developed over the course of evolutions. Also
mother came to feel deeply attaches to their children . The ability to feel attachment .
And that explains that every situition or each individual includes animals are all the
same because brain,mind and manner of an individual decides what she act and
thoughts.
• Morality is an inner sense of rightness about our behaviour or
behaviour of others. It is how we think or act about a certain concept
of "Good" and "Bad" For Example: I have discovered that my
friend's boyfriend is cheating on her. So I must decide if I will tell it to
my best friend or I would keep it a secret. This is how I can relate on
that perspective of Patricia Churchland, because the way we think it
reflects on our actions.
• Morality, Our mind is truly a complex matrix of dynamic variables. It is influenced by our past experiences, instinct,
chemical presences in our body and many more. Human emotion is something that is ambiguous, unpredictable, and
mysterious. For us to understand how our mind work, we must see it’s physical attribute; it is our brain.
• For example, an adult man knows that fire can burn the skin. This is memory in his childhood that he has experience
getting burn from the fire.
• My experience about the philosopher is that, Every experience we had will affect into new pathways of neurons over
and over forming new connections. In fact, the structure of our brain changes every time we learn, as well as whenever
we have a new thought or memory. Human Instinct believes to be embedded in our cells, it is a collective memory of
generations of our ancestors passed through in our DNA.
• It might make us slightly more humble, more willing to listen to
another side, less arrogant, less willing to think that only our
particular system of doing social business is worthy.
• The brain is so much more extraordinary and marvelous than we
thought. It’s not that I think these are not real values this is as real as
values get!
“ The brain is so much more extraordinary and
marvelous than we thought. It’s not that I think these
are not real values — this is as real as values get!

Patricia Churchland
”
 In the end,there wouldn't be
something other than the brain,
something like a non-physical soul.
So I think it shouldn’t be that
much of a surprise to realize that
our moral inclinations are also the
outcome of the brain.