Laurence Tancredi

Gebundenes Buch

Hardwired Behavior

Beschreibung

This book explores the impact of neuroscience research over the past 20 or more years on brain function as it affects moral decisions. Findings show that the mind and brain are very close, if not the same, and that the brain 'makes' the mind. This is bringing about a change of focus from examining mental activity (mentalism) to the physical activity of the brain (physicalism) to understand thinking and behavior. We are discovering that the physical features of the brain play the major role in shaping our thoughts and emotions, including the way we deal with 'moral' issues. This book sets out the historical framework of the transition from 'mentalism' to 'physicalism', shows how the physical brain works in moral decisions and then examines three broad areas of moral decision-making - the brain in 'bad' acts, the brain in decisions involving sexual relations, and the brain in money decision-making.

Autor

Laurence R. Tancredi, a psychiatrist-lawyer, is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and the author or coauthor of numerous articles and several books on topics in law, ethics and psychiatry, including Dangerous Diagnostics: The Social Power of Biological Information (1994) and When Law and Medicine Meet: A Cultural View (2004). Tancredi has a private practice in New York City and works as a forensic psychiatric consultant. He has consulted in dozens of legal cases involving a wide variety of psychiatric issues, from the effects of toxic environmental substances on brain function to criminal cases involving assault, rape and homicide.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Cambridge University Press
• Seitenzahl: 242
• Erscheinungstermin: 24. November 2005
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 235mm x 157mm x 18mm
• Gewicht: 542g
• ISBN-13: 9780521860017
• ISBN-10: 0521860016
• Artikelnr.: 20886969

Rezensionen

'No one writes as well about these topics as Laurence Tancredi - he is versed in history, philosophy and legal thought with a sophisticated background and understanding of the neurosciences. In this book Dr Tancredi expertly guides the reader through the complex issues of free will and morality and what new insights are gained through discoveries in the science of the brain.' Myrna Weissman, Professor of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, College of Physician and Surgeons, Columbia University