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Neuroethics: Agency in the Age of Brain Science
Is free will an illusion? Is addiction a brain disease? Should we enhance our brains beyond normal? Neuroethics blends philosophical analysis with modern brain science to address these and other critical questions through captivating cases. The result is a nuanced view of human agency as surprisingly diverse and flexible. With a lively and accessible writing style, Neuroethics is an indispensable resource for students and scholars in both the sciences and humanities.
- GenresPhilosophy
340 pages, Hardcover
Published June 9, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 17, 2025
I read this for a neuroethics class, and as far as "textbooks" are concerned (or textbook adjacent works), this is a compelling read. May does a good job of keeping each topic interesting, and really emphasizes the nuance that comes along with neuroethics. Sometimes I felt that May went off-topic, or got too absorbed in a small detail that would slightly derail the chapter. Most of the book, though, was interesting and made neuroethics into an accessible topic.
November 13, 2023
I read this book for two reasons.
One, I am a neuroscientist who takes engaging with neurophilosophy seriously.
Two, I am currently shadowing a professor and teaching neuroethics within an introductory neuroscience to first-year undergraduates using a much more outdated book and am thus looking for a more up to date text to use for future students, should I get the chance to build my own introductory neuroscience course in the near future.
Given that this book is described in the introduction as being useful in both contexts, I figured this would be a slam dunk.
Overall, May does a great job of outlining a lot of the relevant issues in neuroscience and neuroethics today, and his arguments are well-put together and do a solid job of melding real neuroscience data with important moral philosophical debates. I think the book is also well divided up into sections in a way that makes it effective to use for a class.
Unfortunately, I think the main flaw of this book is that it is a bit more advanced both in its neuroscience content and its philosophical reasoning. Thus, I can't really see myself using this in the intro class. I do however, feel this would make a strong central text to a higher level neuroethics course that has introductory neuroscience and introductory philosophy as pre-requisites. It is otherwise a solid choice for neuroscientists looking to learn more about neuroethics and for professors looking for a strong text for a neuroethics course!
One, I am a neuroscientist who takes engaging with neurophilosophy seriously.
Two, I am currently shadowing a professor and teaching neuroethics within an introductory neuroscience to first-year undergraduates using a much more outdated book and am thus looking for a more up to date text to use for future students, should I get the chance to build my own introductory neuroscience course in the near future.
Given that this book is described in the introduction as being useful in both contexts, I figured this would be a slam dunk.
Overall, May does a great job of outlining a lot of the relevant issues in neuroscience and neuroethics today, and his arguments are well-put together and do a solid job of melding real neuroscience data with important moral philosophical debates. I think the book is also well divided up into sections in a way that makes it effective to use for a class.
Unfortunately, I think the main flaw of this book is that it is a bit more advanced both in its neuroscience content and its philosophical reasoning. Thus, I can't really see myself using this in the intro class. I do however, feel this would make a strong central text to a higher level neuroethics course that has introductory neuroscience and introductory philosophy as pre-requisites. It is otherwise a solid choice for neuroscientists looking to learn more about neuroethics and for professors looking for a strong text for a neuroethics course!
May 6, 2026
I read this book for one of my classes and it was so interesting! I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in philosophy, neuroscience, or psychology. It gives a lot to think about and provided me with a greater understanding of how our brain really works in abstract concepts.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews