Neuroethics: Challenges for the 21st Century

by Neil Levy

Neuroscience has dramatically increased understanding of how mental states and processes are realized by the brain, thus opening doors for treating the multitude of ways in which minds become dysfunctional. This book explores questions such as when is it permissible to alter a person's memories, influence personality traits or read minds? What can neuroscience tell us about free will, self-control, self-deception and the foundations of morality? The view of neuroethics offered here argues that many of our new powers to read ,alter and control minds are not entirely unparalleled with older ones. They have, however, expanded to include almost all our social, political and ethical decisions. Written primarily for graduate students, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the more philosophical and ethical aspects of the neurosciences.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction, Neuroscience, Psychology

364 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[K!NAN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I think this book is a decent overview of contemporary neuroethical problems. That being said, I feel like the book was more ethics and less neuro. What I don't mean is that the discussion of the subject matter wasn't related to neuroscience. It certainly was. Rather, the book just didn't feature as much technical discussion of particular phenomena within neuroscience that might have neuroethical implications. Essentially, I just wish the subject matter were a little more in depth. Each chapter felt a bit repetitive within itself.

My other issue is with Levy. He makes some controversial arguments (which, for the record, I have no issue with intrinsically) but does little to back them in certain cases. His arguments are often poor and don't always follow. I just think that it could've been a little bit better in that regard. Some ethical principles were misrepresented as well, such as Levy's discussion of Mill in the 9th chapter. By and large though, this book was informative and a good primer to a wide variety of topics. I'd still recommend it.

[Ava Navarro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written overall and an interesting read. Levy introduces some intriguing perspectives. However, he tends to make some bold leaps and assumptions with little (or strangely interpreted) evidence to back it up. Additionally, Levy does not write in a way to make his writing more accessible. In certain areas, it seems that he falls into the fallacy that science writing needs to be complicated and difficult to read. This isn’t always the case in this book, he keeps many things simple, but many other things need to be re-read 3 or 4 times either from confusion or the disbelief of such a giant leap/assumption.

[Kramer Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very clear and well-written overview of many different topics within the topic of neuroethics and philosophy of mind. I found many of the topics interesting and found Levy's analysis of the state of play of different discourses very insightful, and his own arguments seemed to get to the heart of the issues.

[livi · Rating 3 out of 5]

thanks neil

[Makomai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Datemi il propanololo!

Quarta di copertina e sottotitolo (entrambi responsabilita' dell'editore italiano) sono decisamente fuorvianti: mi aspettavo un libro di neurologia dell'etica (come da sottotitolo: le basi neurologiche del senso morale) e me ne sono trovato uno essenzialmente di etica della neurologia... Nondimeno interessante (se interessa l'etica) e ben scritto. I pochi accenni alla neurologia sono poco approfonditi (del resto l'autore e' un filosofo), ma interessanti anch'essi. Niente a che vedere con Ramachandran ("la donna che mori' dal ridere" e "quello che sappiamo della mente"), che resta sinora il miglior scienziato divulgatore nella materia (e al quale Levy rimanda spesso).

[Bryan Kibbe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a special fascination with all things relating to the Extended Mind hypothesis, so I especially enjoyed the opening sections of this book in which Levy introduces an ethical parity principle that is intended to deflate the claims to novel ethical dilemmas posed by various new technologies targeting the brain. The writing is good, and the arguments are insightful. My major criticism is that I would have liked to see more continuity between the chapters to create a cohesive book as a whole. Nonetheless, this is a good book for all those interested in the developing field of neuroethics.

[laura]

yes, please.

[Brooks Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good introduction for doing ethics in the field of neurophilosophy or philosophy of the mind.